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Extemporaneous 
Speaking 


BY 
PAUL  M.   PEARSON 

PROFESSOR  PUBLIC  SPEAKING,   SWARTHMORE  COLLEGE 

AND  PHILIP  M.   HICKS 

ASSISTANT  IN  PUBLIC  SPEAKING,    SWARTHMORE  COLLEGE 


HINDS,   NOBLE  &  ELDREDGE 
31-33-35  West  15th  St.  New  York  City 


Copyright,  1912,  by  Hinds,  Noble  &  Eldredge 


r 


r 
6 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface    5 

PART  I 

CHAPTER 

I.  Efficient    Speaking    ii 

II.  Preparing  the  Speech    17 

III.  The    Introduction    23 

IV.  The  Conclusion    32 

V.  The   Discussion    S7 

\T.     Personality    43 

VII.     After-Dinner    Speaking    47 

VIIL     Speaking  in   Business    53 

PART  II 

SPEECHES    FOR    STUDY 

The  Ethics  of  Corporate  Management.  .C/zar/^.r  W.  Eliot  59 

The  Principles  of  Business  Success Hugh  Chalmers  75 

The  Unknown  Quantities M.  T.  Frisbie  81 

Comparative  Advertising  Methods.  East  and  West, 

Hugh  A.  O'Donnell  93 

Vanadium  Steels Louis  Bradford  103 

The  Necessity  for  Adequate  Railway  Revenues, 

Martin  A.  Knapp  107 
Hours  of  Service  of  Railway  Employees, 

Robert  M.  La  Follette  1 1 1 

3 


4  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The  Railway  Rate  Bill Robert  M.  La  Follette  117 

Alaska:   The  Nation's  Storehouse  .Robert  M.  La  Follette  129 

On  Withdrawing  from  the  Union Jefferson  Davis  139 

Paul   Before  Agrippa    143 

Paul  at   Mars'  Hill    147 

Nathan's  Parable  of  the  Ewe  Lamb   149 

Tertullus'  Speech  Against  Paul   151 

Paul's  Reply  to  Tertullus    153 

Julia  Ward  Howe Charles  W.  Eliot  155 

The  Death  of  Lincoln James  A.  Garfield  161 

The  Bible  and  Progress Woodrow  Wilson  163 

International  Conciliation Nicholas  Murray  Butler  179 

Future  in  Chemistry Wilder  D.  Bancroft  187 

The  University  is  a  Democracy. Mc/io/o^  Murray  Butler  193 

Inaugural  Address George  E.  Vincent  197 

The  Delays  and  Defects  in  the  Enforcement  of  Law  in 

this  Country William  Howard  Taft  21 1 

The  Indeterminate   Sentence,  the  Parole,   and  the  New 

Criminology Frederick  Howard  Wines  219 

The  Honor  System Jesse  H.  Holmes  225 

Jackson-Day  Dinner Woodrow  Wilson  227 

The  Issues  of  Reform Woodrow  Wilson  241 

After-Dinner  Speech Strickland  W.  Gillilan  251 

Appendix  I,  Synopsis  255 

Appendix  II,  Topics  for  Speech 257 

Appendix  III,  Extempore  Speaking  in  High  Schools 263 

Notes  on  Programs 265 


PREFACE 


FOR  TEACHERS 


Extemporaneous  Speaking. — "Greater  efificiency" 
has  become  the  watchword  of  modern  activity,  and 
education  in  its  various  departments  is  shaping  to 
that  end.  Courses  in  business  management  have 
made  their  way  into  the  curriculum.  The  depart- 
ments of  economics,  politics,  and  engineering  being 
the  quickest  to  respond  to  the  popular  trend  toward 
practical  rather  than  theoretical  teaching,  have 
reaped  the  greatest  increase  in  enrollment.  Extem- 
poraneous Speaking  has  been  the  answer  of  the 
Public  Speaking  Department  to  this  demand,  and 
the  results  obtained  have  been  successful  both  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  classroom  and  the  interested 
co-operation  of  the  other  college  departments. 

As  offered  at  Swarthmore,  where  it  supplements 
already  established  courses  in  Declamation,  Oratory 
and  Argumentation,  the  aim  of  the  course  has  been 
to  enable  men  to  talk  shop  effectively:  that  is,  to 
equip  the  college  student  with  the  capacity  for 
leadership  that  comes  with  the  ability  to  impress 
one's  personality  on  other  people  by  means  of  the 
spoken  word.  In  all  professions  the  thing  that  lifts 
an  individual  above  his  fellows  is  usually  facility  in 
self-expression.  Leadership  is  the  reward  of  the 
man  who  possesses  the  power  of  effective  speech. 

5 


6  PREFACE 

Plan  of  Course. — The  object  of  the  course  being 
to  train  the  student  to  talk  effectively  upon  what- 
ever touches  him  most  nearly,  two  means  to  this 
end  suggest  themselves.  First,  to  give  the  student 
a  working  knov/ledge  of  the  structure  and  qualities 
of  a  successful  speech.  Second,  to  include  in  the 
course  a  maximum  amount  of  practice.  In  other 
words,  a  laboratory  course,  not  a  lecture  course. 

Small  Sections. — In  pursuance  of  these  aims  it  has 
been  found  necessary  to  divide  the  class  into  small 
sections  of  not  more  than  ten  students  each.  These 
sections  meet  one  hour  a  week,  when  each  student 
delivers  a  five-minute  speech.  Two  or  three  longer 
speeches  are  also  required  during  the  semester. 

Topics  for  Speeches. — Students  are  allowed  the 
greatest  possible  freedom  in  selecting  topics  for 
speeches  on  condition  that  the  subject  be  submitted 
for  approval  a  week  in  advance  of  the  delivery  of 
the  speech.  A  list  of  topics  submitted  by  the  heads 
of  other  college  departments  (see  Appendix  2)  is 
posted  in  the  classroom,  and  students  are  encour- 
aged to  draw  upon  this  source.  College  politics, 
athletics,  student  activities,  and  the  various  prob- 
lems arising  in  connection  with  undergraduate  life 
are  frequently  chosen,  as  are  political,  social,  and 
scientific  questions  of  current  interest. 

Whenever  possible,  engineering  students  are 
given  separate  sections,  owing  to  the  preponderance 
of  technical  subjects,  which  are  of  little  interest  to 
the  other  students. 


PREFACE  7 

Teaching  Method. — It  will  be  seen  that  there  is 
comparatively  little  time  allotted  for  actual  instruc- 
tion as  such.  The  most  satisfactory  plan  has  been 
to  reduce  this  phase  of  the  course  to  the  minimum 
required  for  a  clear  understanding  of  the  principles 
of  efficient  speaking,  and  to  rely  upon  the  instructor's 
criticism  of  students'  speeches  to  point  out  their 
successful  employment.  The  criticism  aims  to  be 
always  constructive  rather  than  destructive,  to  em- 
phasize the  merits  of  the  speeches  submitted  rather 
than  their  shortcomings.  A  very  definite  advantage 
of  the  small  section  is  that  the  instructor,  by  closer 
contact  with  the  students,  is  able  to  know  what 
variety  and  amount  of  criticism  will  produce  the 
best  results  in  individual  cases.  Too  much  may 
produce  embarrassment,  which  is  inimical  to  the 
best  results. 

At  the  close  of  each  speech,  wherever  time  per- 
mits, the  class  is  encouraged  to  question  the  speaker 
upon  any  points  of  the  speech,  or  to  challenge  his 
statements.  The  speaker  is  then  allowed  a  few 
moments  in  rebuttal. 

The  subject  matter  which  forms  the  basis  of  the 
instruction  in  this  course  will  be  found  in  Part  I 
of  this  book  and,  briefly  stated,  treats  of  (I)  Prepa- 
ration of  the  speech,  (IT)  Qualities  of  a  successful 
speech,  (III)  Personality  of  the  speaker,  with  addi- 
tional chapters  on  the  speech  in  business,  and  on 
after-dinner  speaking. 

No  attempt  is  made  in  this  course  to  develop  an 
oratorical  style  or  delivery.     An  easy,  natural  and 


8  PREFACE 

dignified  delivery  is  commended;  spontaneous  ges- 
tures are  encouraged ;  offensive  mannerisms  and 
striving  for  effect  are  deprecated. 

Holding  the  Interest. — As  in  other  laboratory 
courses,  the  best  results  can  be  obtained  only  when 
the  students  evince  an  active  interest  in  the  work. 
One  of  the  problems  of  the  instructor  is  to  keep 
alive  the  interest,  which  is  very  general  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  course.  The  meeting  week  after  week 
of  the  same  small  group  of  students  to  listen  to  the 
same  familiar  voices  does  not  tend  either  to  inspire 
the  speaker  or  enthuse  the  listeners.  This  inevitable 
monotony  should  be  counteracted  by  varying  the 
program  as  much  as  possible.  The  routine  of  five- 
minute  speeches  may  be  broken  by  an  informal 
debate,  a  round  of  toasts,  a  symposium  upon  some 
college  topic,  or  a  session  devoted  to  salesmanship. 
Local  condftions  and  knowledge  of  the  class  will 
suggest  to  the  instructor  other  means  of  holding 
the  interest,  and  he  should  be  quick  to  seize  upon 
every  latent  enthusiasm,  to  direct  it  to  this  end. 
Often  a  judicious  assignment  of  topics  may  prove 
advantageous. 

Object  of  this  Book. — The  material  contained  in 
Part  I  of  this  book  embodies  the  teaching  experi- 
ence of  the  editors.  The  topics,  the  principles  and 
the  hints  to  students  of  public  speaking  are  those 
which  they  have  found  useful  in  the  classroom,  and 
the  raison  d'etre  of  the  book  is  the  need  they  have 
felt  for  a  working  text  for  the  course  in  Extempo- 


PREFACE  9 

raneous  Speaking,  and  the  hope  that  it  might  prove 
useful  to  teachers  working  along  similar  lines. 

Acknowledgment  is  made  of  the  many  valuable 
suggestions  derived  from  the  following  works : 
The   Speech   for   Special   Occasions,   Knapp   and 

French. 
Effective  Speaking.  Arthur  E.  Phillips. 
How  to  Attract  and  Hold  an  Audience,  J.  Berg 

Esenwein. 
Psychology    of    Public    Speaking,    Walter    Dill 
Scott. 

The  editors  also  desire  to  express  their  apprecia- 
tion of  the  courtesy  of  the  gentlemen  who  have  per- 
mitted the  use  of  their  speeches  in  Part  H.  The 
speeches  chosen  have  been,  as  far  as  possible,  those 
of  living  men  who  are  recognized  as  among  the 
foremost  thinkers  and  speakers  of  the  present  time, 
and  it  is  hoped  that  they  may  prove  valuable  in 
stimulating  classroom  discussion,  as  well  as  in 
exemplifying  the  qualities  of  efficient  public  speak- 
ing. 

Swarthmore,   Pennsylvania,   1912. 


Extemporaneous  Speaking 


PART  I 


Chapter  I 

EFFICIENT  SPEAKING 

Importance  of  the  Subject. — Because  speech  is  a 
natural  gift,  because  we  employ  it  freely  according 
to  our  needs  or  inclinations,  and  because  the  aver- 
age person  succeeds  in  conducting  his  affairs  with- 
out giving  any  special  attention  to  the  subject,  we 
are  apt  to  lose  sight  of  the  opportunities  for  busi- 
ness success,  for  exerting  influence,  for  leadership, 
which  are  offered  to  the  man  who  has  mastered  the 
principles  of  efficient  speaking.  The  term  efficient 
speaking  is  in  itself  significant  of  the  changing  sen- 
timent toward  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  honorable 
of  the  arts,  the  art  of  public  speech.  In  the  forum 
and  on  the  stage,  the  power  of  the  spoken  word  has 
always  been  acknowledged,  but  only  within  recent 
years  has  there  been  a  general  recognition  of  the 
importance  of  effective  speaking  ability,  both  as  a 
business  asset  and  as  a  means  of  added  usefulness 

II 


13        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

and  power  in  every  walk  of  life.  This  recognition 
is  a  part  of  the  widespread  striving  for  greater  effi- 
ciency in  all  human  activities,  and  the  term  efficient 
speaking  is  significant  of  this  new  and  highly  prac- 
tical interest  in  public  speaking,  as  contrasted  with 
the  older  view,  which  identified  it  only  with  elocu- 
tion and  oratory. 

To  those  whose  profession  demands  constant  em- 
ployment of  speech — the  lawyer,  the  preacher,  the 
teacher — the  importance  of  ability  in  speaking 
should  be  apparent ;  yet  how  often  does  the  plea 
fail,  the  sermon  bore,  or  the  lecture  pall  because 
the  speaker  cannot  present  effectively  the  matter 
which  may  have  cost  him  the  most  painstaking 
effort !  But  to  the  non-professional  speaker — the 
engineer,  the  farmer,  the  business  man  or  woman — 
effective  speaking  ability  is  equally,  if  not  so  ob- 
viously, important.  Distinction  in  any  vocation  can 
only  come  to  the  man  who  knows  how  to  make  his 
knowledge  intelligible  to  others,  and  we  frequently 
see  the  most  thoughtful  men  yielding  leadership  to 
inferior  men  who  can  out-talk  them. 

The  Press  and  Speaking. — The  development  of 
printing  is  partly  responsible  for  the  apparent 
decline  of  interest  in  the  art  of  speech,  yet  at  a 
second  glance  the  press  is  revealed  as  a  medium  for 
the  extension  of  the  spoken  word.  We  are  not  de- 
pendent upon  the  spoken  word  for  information  or 
for  arguments ;  but  for  inspiration,  nothing  can  take 
the  place  of  it.  A  distinguished  man  speaks  to  a 
thousand  persons  upon  some  topic  of  public  con- 


EFFICIENT  SPEAKING  13 

cern,  and  the  next  niorninc^  his  words  are  read  by 
millions  throughout  the  land. 

Press  and  Pulpit. — What  Newell  Dwight  Hillis 
says  of  the  effect  of  the  press  upon  the  pulpit  is 
true  of  all  serious  public  speech.  "Thoughtful  men 
are  not  troubled  lest  some  agency  arise  to  dis- 
possess the  pulpit.  In  the  last  analysis  preaching 
is  simply  an  extension  of  that  universal  function 
called  conversation.  So  far  from  books  doing  away 
with  the  influence  of  the  voice,  they  seem  rather 
to  increase  it.  \Mien  a  new  book  is  published  like 
'The  Memories  of  Tennyson,'  or  'Equality,'  or  'The 
Christian,'  these  books,  instead  of  ending  conversa- 
tion upon  the  themes  in  question  seem  rather  to 
open  the  flood-gates  of  speech  so  that  a  thousand 
readers  break  forth  with  discussion,  who  before 
were  dumb." 

The  Platform. — The  public  platform,  the  Chau- 
tauqua movement,  and  the  University  Extension 
work,  all  of  which  are  increasing  in  importance  and 
influence,  each  year  offer  exceptional  opportunities 
to  men  who  have  a  message  for  the  public  and  the 
ability  to  speak  it.  Williams  Jennings  Bryan  has 
perhaps  the^  largest  personal  following  of  any  man 
in  the  United  States,  which  he  has  built  up  largely 
from  the  lecture  platform  by  his  spoken  appeals  to 
the  people. 

The  Cash  Return. — Now  turning  from  the  possi- 
bilities of  leadership  and  preferment  to  the  topic 
which  more  immediately  concerns  the  college  grad- 


U        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

iiate,  it  is  asked  :  "Will  training  in  public  speaking 
better  enable  a  man  to  get  a  job?"  Mr.  Allen  Davis, 
Professor  of  Public  Speaking  in  the  University  of 
Pittsburgh,  in  an  address  before  the  Public  Speak- 
ing Conference  at  Swarthmore  College  in  1910  of- 
fered this  striking  testimony  in  support  of  the  con- 
clusion that  it  would.    He  said  in  part : 

In  Business. — "The  director  of  the  High  School  in 
Pittsburgh,  one  of  the  most  commercial  cities  in 
the  world,  sent  out  a  circular  letter  to  every  busi- 
ness firm  of  consequence  in  the  city,  asking  those 
firms,  what  in  their  opinion,  was  the  most  important 
thing  we  could  teach  students  in  order  to  enable 
them  to  grapple  more  successfully  with  the  prob- 
lems that  would  await  them  in  the  business  world. 
With  a  few  exceptions,  the  answers  that  he  got  did 
not  say,  'Teach  them  more  arithmetic,'  or  'Teach 
them  more  stenography.'  In  fact,  ninety-nine  per 
cent  of  those  business  firms  laid  stress  upon  the 
advantage  of  being  able  to  write  and  speak  the 
English  tongue  accurately  and  forcibly!  Let  us 
mark  this  bit  of  testimony  Exhibit  1. 

In  Engineering. — "Now  for  Exhibit  2.  The  Chan- 
cellor of  the  University  of  Pittsburgh  recently  had 
a  meeting  with  a  body  of  engineers,  and  asked  them 
what  they  considered  to  be  the  most  important 
part  of  a  college  career.  Their  answer  may  seem 
strange  to  you,  but  I  quote  it  exactly  as  it  was 
given.  'We  presuppose,'  said  these  gentlemen,  'that 
erraduates  of  an  engineering  school  will  have  some 


EFFICIENT  SPEAKING  15 

knowledge  of  the  principles  of  their  profession ;  but 
you,  Mr.  Chancellor,  cannot  emphasize  too  strongly 
the  advantage  that  accrues  to  men  from  the  ability 
to  think  upon  their  feet ;  to  express  extempore  a 
well-thought-out  proposition ;  to  adapt  themselves 
and  their  conversation  instantaneously  to  changing 
conditions  as  they  may  arise.  We  value  this  ability 
of  clear  and  rapid  thinking  and  expression  more 
highly  than  almost  anything  else.'  Let  us  mark  this 
bit  of  testimony  Exhibit  2. 

In  Salesmanship, — "Now  for  Exhibit  3.  The  gen- 
eral manager  of  an  international  business  house 
which  employs  thousands  of  salesmen,  recently  said 
to  me,  'I  never  can  get  enough  men  for  the  more 
important  positions  of  the  firm,  because  there  are 
so  very  few  men  who  can  present  their  own  argu- 
ments clearly  and  overcome  the  arguments  of  the 
other  side  without  giving  ofifence.  At  the  present 
time  I  have  three  positions  paying  $5,000  a  year 
each,  and  I  am  unable  to  find  a  man  of  personality 
who  has  the  qualifications  that  I  have  indicated.' 
But  seriouslv  different  as  these  three  points  may 
seem  on  their  face,  is  there  not  at  the  bottom  an 
underlying  unity  to  all  of  them?  What  does  'writ- 
ing and  speaking  the  mother  tongue  well'  mean  but 
the  conveying  thought  clearly  and  powerfully — to 
persuade?  What  does  'thinking  on  one's  feet  and 
adapting  one's  case  to  the  case  of  the  other  man' 
mean  but  the  skilful  presentation  of  facts — in  order 
to  persuade?  And  what  does  'an  al:)ility  to  meet 
the  case  of  the  ojiponent  without  giving  offence' 


16        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

mean  but  convincing  refutation  in  order  to  per- 
suade? Is  not  persuasion  of  one  sort  or  another, 
whether  it  be  to  present  facts  that  they  may  be 
accepted,  or  to  induce  a  mood  in  the  mind  of  the 
reader  to  correspond  to  that  of  the  writer,  at  the 
basis  of  all  language;  and  how  much  more  at  the 
basis  of  all  spoken  language,  and  above  all,  of 
oratory,  which  has  for  its  fundamental  object  the 
moving  of  bodies  of  men  to  action  as  the  speaker 
directs  them." 

Scope  of  This  Course. — The  course  in  Extempo- 
raneous Speaking  is  designed,  not  to  supplant,  but 
to  supplement,  the  courses  in  Oratory  and  Argu- 
mentation. It  is  planned  especially  to  meet  the 
needs  of  the  non-professional  or  informal  speaker 
who  desires  to  cultivate  facility  in  clear,  convincing 
and  effective  expression,  whether  in  private  conver- 
sation, in  business,  or  in  any  of  the  social,  political, 
or  professional  organizations  with  which  he  may  be 
connected. 

The  distinction  between  extemporaneous  and  im- 
promptu speaking  should  be  clear  at  the  outset. 
The  former  in  no  wise  implies  a  lack  of  preparation 
on  the  part  of  the  speaker,  but  designates  that 
broad  field  of  public  speech  which  lies  just  with- 
out the  confines  of  the  formal  oration,  sermon,  legal 
address,  or  platform  lecture.  The  chapters  that 
follow  are  especially  designed  to  aid  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  speeches  for  the  wide  range  of  informal  occa- 
sions that  present  themselves  constantly  to  edu- 
cated men. 


Chapter  II 

PREPARING  THE  SPEECH 

Three  Methods. — There  are  three  ways  of  prepar- 
ing a  speech  that  are  in  general  use  by  successful 
speakers.  The  first  is  to  write  it  out  and  to  memorize 
it  or  familiarize  one's  self  with  it  by  frequent  re- 
hearsals. The  second  is  to  prepare  an  outline  or 
plan,  and  to  practice  the  speech  from  these  notes 
until  a  reasonable  grasp  of  it  is  obtained.  The  third 
is  to  divide  the  subject  mentally  and  to  trust  to  the 
inspiration  of  the  occasion  for  the  most  effective 
phrasing.  The  last  method,  while  allowing  the  most 
freedom  and  spontaneity  to  the  speaker  who  is  able 
to  read  his  audience  accurately  and  to  take  instant 
advantage  of  their  moods,  is  not  recommended  to 
inexperienced  speakers.  For  classroom  work,  the 
second  is  undoubtedly  the  safest  and  most  valuable 
method  for  the  student,  although  writing  out  the 
speech  in  full  may  be  helpful  to  those  afflicted  with 
nervousness.  Whichever  method  is  chosen,  the 
introduction  and  conclusion  of  the  speech  should  be 
definitely  phrased  and  committed,  for  those  are  the 
places  at  which  embarrassment  and  hesitation  are 
most  likely  to  overtake  the  novice,  and  at  which  a 
"break"  is  most  damaging  to  the  success  of  the 
speech. 

17 


18        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

Value  of  Preparation. — A  story  is  told  of  Presi- 
dent George  E.  Vincent,  of  the  University  of  Min- 
nesota; who  being  listed  for  a  toast  at  an  alumni 
dinner,  determined  to  be  ready  for  whatever  pleas- 
antries the  toastmaster  might  perpetrate  in  intro- 
ducing him,  and  to  this  end,  prepared  no  less  than 
eight  tentative  introductions  to  his  own  speech.  The 
result  of  this  forethought  was  one  of  the  most 
notable  and  delightful  speeches  in  the  history  of  the 
association. 

William  Dean  Howells,  writing  of  Mark  Twain's 
methods,  sa3^s  :  "He  knew  that  from  the  beginning 
of  oratory  the  orator's  spontaneity  was  for  the 
silence  and  solitude  of  the  closet  where  he  mused 
his  words  to  an  imaginary  audience ;  that  this  was 
the  use  of  orators  from  Demosthenes  and  Cicero  up 
and  down.  He  studied  every  word  and  syllable. 
He  studied  every  tone  and  gesture,  and  he  forecast 
the  result  with  the  real  audience  from  its  result  on 
the  imagined  audience.  Therefore  it  was  beautiful 
to  see  him  and  to  hear  him.  Hq  rejoiced  in  the 
pleasure  he  gave,  and  in  the  blows  of  surprise  he 
dealt,  and,  because  he  had  his  end  in  mind,  he  knew 
where  to  stop." 

More  significant  testimony  as  to  the  value  of 
careful  preparation  can  hardly  be  imagined. 

Choosing  the  Subject. — Usually  the  subject  is  de- 
termined by  the  occasion,  but  where  this  is  not  the 
case,  the  speaker  should  none  the  less  consider  the 
occasion  and  the  probable  audience  in  choosing  his 
topic.    For  classwork  the  range  of  possible  subjects 


PREPARING  THE  SPEECH  19 

is  almost  unlimited,  with  this  caution :  Do  not 
select  topics  concerning  which  you  have  no  previous 
knowledge  or  interest.  A  speech  should  impress 
your  own  personality  upon  the  subject.  A  mere 
report  of  some  one  else's  ideas  is  not  the  de- 
sideratum. 

First  Steps. — Having  decided  upon  a  subject  the 
first  thing  to  do  is  to  think  over  and  reduce  to  logi- 
cal form  what  you  already  know  and  believe  about 
it.  This  is  essential.  Even  though  your  subsequent 
reading  and  study  may  completely  alter  your  first 
opinions  or  ideas,  the  possession  at  the  outset  of  a 
definite  viewpoint  will  illuminate  your  investigation 
and  make  it  of  real  value  to  you,  besides  doubling 
the  probability  of  your  making  an  entertaining  and 
convincing  speech. 

A  complete  mastery  of  the  subject  is  essential  to 
intelligent  speaking.  The  speaker's  concern  should 
be  to  select  the  most  important  out  of  the  mass 
of  material  at  hand.  Moreover,  for  a  ten-minute 
speech  he  should  have  enough  material  for  a  half- 
hour.  There  is  no  more  effective  cure  for  nervous- 
ness and  lack  of  confidence  than  to  have  more  than 
enough  ammunition  in  reserve,  so  that  you  cannot 
be  disconcerted  by  a  random  question. 

Theme  and  Purpose. — The  selection  of  material 
to  be  used  out  of  the  mass  in  hand  will  naturally 
take  the  form  of  a  narrowing  of  the  general  subject 
to  some  particular  phase  or  theme  which  will  be 
determined  by  the  speaker's  purpose.     Authorities 


20        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

differ  very  widely  in  the  matter  of  classifying 
speeches  according  to  their  kinds  or  to  the  pur- 
poses in  speaking,  but  the  differences  are  mainly  a 
matter  of  terminology,  some  preferring  to  adopt 
the  terms  of  psychology,  others  to  group  according 
to  the  ends  sought  by  the  speaker.  Inasmuch  as 
the  speaker  may  need,  in  arousing  the  audience  to 
action,  for  example,  to  appeal  to  two  or  more  of  the 
psychological  functions  of  the  mind,  such  as  the 
imagination  and  the  reason,  the  latter  method  seems 
less  confusing,  and  will  be  adopted  in  this  text. 
The  speaker's  purpose  then  will  be  either  Clearness, 
Acceptance,  Action,  or  Entertainment. 

Four  Ends  of  Speech. — Clearness:  Here  the 
speaker  is  concerned  simply  to  convey  to  the  au- 
dience a  definite  picture  of  the  subject  in  hand, 
whether  it  be  a  nebula,  a  propaganda,  or  a  gas 
engine.  His  appeal  is  to  the  understanding;  and 
both  subject-matter  and  phrasing  must  be  selected 
to  that  end. 

Acceptance  involves  a  step  farther  than  clearness. 
The  audience  must  not  only  discern  what  is  in  the 
speaker's  mind,  but  they  must  approve  it  and  adopt 
it  as  their  own.  In  working  for  acceptance  the 
speaker  may  appeal  either  to  the  reason  by  argu- 
ment or  to  the  sentiments  by  persuasion — or  to 
both,  as  is  the  usual  practice,  because  the  average 
audience  contains  about  an  even  proportion  of  per- 
sons dominated  by  reason  or  sentiment. 

Action  goes  beyond  acceptance  and  involves  an 


PREPARING  THE  SPEECH  21 

appeal  to  the  emotions  or  to  the  impelling  motives — 
patriotism,  ambition,  self-preserration,  honor,  etc. 
It  is  the  most  important  and  most  difficult  of  the 
four  ends,  and  in  a  measure  embraces  them  all.  To 
rouse  to  action  the  speaker  must  be  lucid,  per- 
suasive, interesting,  convincing,  and  finally  his  plea 
must  be  virile. 

Entertainment :  To  be  successful,  all  speeches 
should  entertain;  that  is  to  say,  the  speaker  must 
never  lose  sight  of  the  importance  of  interesting- 
ness  as  a  quality  of  discourse.  But  we  must  dis- 
tinguish between  entertainingness  as  a  quality  and 
as  an  end.  In  the  latter  case  it  constitutes  amuse- 
ment, and  the  speaker's  appeal  is  to  the  imagination, 
the  fancy,  and  the  sense  of  humor,  which  necessi- 
tates a  different  treatment  of  the  subject. 

Plaving  decided  upon  one  of  these  four  ends,  the 
speaker  will  adopt  the  theme  best  suited  to  attain 
the  desired  end,  and  will  be  ready  to  begin  the 
actual  preparation  of  the  speech,  the  divisions  of 
which — the  introduction,  the  discussion,  and  the 
conclusion — are  treated  in  the  following  chapters. 

Studying  the  Audience. — Not  less  important  than 
thorough  preparation  is  the  study  of  human  nature, 
to  enable  the  speaker  to  read  his  audience,  to  know 
what  testimony  will  convince  them,  when  a  point 
is  accepted,  when  further  proof  is  needed,  and  how 
to  redeem  a  speech  that  is  not  going  well.  There 
are  no  rules  to  make  this  task  easy.  Constant  watch- 


22        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

fulness  and  the  will  to  profit  by  experience  will 
alone  avail  to  develop  one's  natural  powers  in  this 
direction.  For  one  thing,  thorough  preparation  in 
advance  will  leave  the  speaker  freer  to  watch  his 
hearers  and  to  note  his  effect  upon  them. 


Chapter  III 
THE  INTRODUCTION 

Functions. — The  opening  moments  of  the  speech 
arfe  the  most  embarrassing  to  the  inexperienced 
speaker,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most  momentous. 
The  sea  of  upturned  faces  is  filled  with  imaginary 
terrors  for  the  novice  and  he  may  easily  wreck  his 
craft  if  it  is  not  well  ballasted  by  preparation  and 
confidence.  In  these  crucial  moments  the  speaker 
has  what  he  ma}'  later  have  to  strive  for,  the  atten- 
tion of  his  audience.  A  position  of  leadership  is  ac- 
corded him ;  the  minds  of  his  auditors  are  attentive 
and  alert,  ready  to  follow  him. 

In  return  for  their  attention  they  have  a  right  to 
demand  of  the  speaker  certain  definite  things.  First, 
that  he  have  something  to  say  to  them ;  second, 
that  he  say  it  clearly  and  interestingly ;  third,  that 
his  bearing  be  dignified,  courteous,  and  genial.  All 
of  which  things  must  be  unmistakably  indicated  in 
the  opening  remarks.  The  function  of  the  introduc- 
tion then  is  threefold. 

1.  To  establish  friendly  relations  between  speaker 
and  audience. 

2.  To  establish  relationship  between  audience  and 
subject. 

3.  To  state  clearly  the  purpose  of  the  speaker. 

23 


24        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

Speaker  and  the  Audience. — Almost  every  audi- 
ence, like  all  Gaul,  is  divided  into  three  parts — the 
friendly,  the  indifferent,  and  the  hostile.  The  dis- 
creet speaker  will  gauge  the  situation  and  endeavor 
to  determine  how  much  consideration  he  must 
accord  to  each  faction  in  order  to  fuse  the  whole 
audience  into  a  body  sufficiently  interested  and  well 
disposed  to  follow  his  discourse  to  the  end. 

Where  the  friendly  element  predominates,  the 
speaker  need  lose  no  time  on  this  function.  Where 
indifference  or  hostility  is  the  prevailing  feeling  a 
serious  effort  must  be  made  to  allay  it  and  supplant 
it  with  tolerance  or  interest.  The  attitude  of  the 
speaker  becomes  one  of  conciliation.  He  is  willing 
to  concede  certain  things  to  the  opposition,  and  in 
return  appeals  to  their  sense  of  fair  play.  No  better 
example  of  a  successful  introduction  of  this  nature 
can  be  found  than  in  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  famous 
address  in  Liverpool,  October  16,  1863.  Popular 
sympathy  in  England  at  the  time  was  strongly  with 
the  Southern  cause,  and  Beecher  found  the  towns 
placarded  against  him  and  the  audiences  violently 
hostile.  In  the  Liverpool  address,  after  discussing 
free  speech  briefly,  he  said : 

"Now,  personally,  it  is  a  matter  of  very  little 
consequence  to  me  whether  I  speak  here  to-night 
or  not.  (Laughter  and  cheers.)  But  one  thing 
is  very  certain :  if  you  do  permit  me  to  speak 
here  to-night,  you  will  hear  some  very  plain  talk- 
ing. (Applause  and  hisses.)  You  will  not  find 
me  a  man  that  dared  to  speak  about  Great  Britain 
three  thousand  miles  off,  and  then  is  afraid  to 


THE  INTRODUCTION  25 

speak  to  Great  Britain  when  he  stands  on  her 
shores.  (Immense  applause  and  hisses.)  And 
if  I  do  not  mistake  the  tone  and  temper  of 
Englishmen,  they  had  rather  have  a  man  who 
opposes  them  in  a  manly  way  than  a  sneak  that 
agrees  with  them  in  an  unmanly  way.  (Bravo.) 
Now,  if  I  can  carry  you  with  me  by  sound  con- 
victions, I  shall  be  immensely  glad,  but  if  I 
cannot  carry  you  with  me  by  facts  and  sound 
arguments,  I  do  not  wish  you  to  go  with  me  at 
all;  and  all  that  I  ask  is  simply  fair  play." 
(Applause  and  a  voice:  "You  shall  have  it, 
too.") 

The  Audience  and  the  Subject. — With  an  audi- 
ence wholly  friendly,  the  speaker  may,  at  his  dis- 
cretion, omit  this  function  of  the  introduction  and 
trust  to  making  the  speech  as  a  whole  sufficiently 
striking  and  interesting.  But  instances  are  com- 
paratively few  where  friendliness  expresses  itself  in 
enthusiasm.  Indeed,  the  majority  of  questions 
which  we  discuss  in  our  every-day  affairs  elicit  but 
a  mjld  mental  assent  without  any  stirring  to  affirma- 
tive action.  Hence  if  action  is  the  end  sought,  the 
speaker  may  do  well  to  proceed  as  though  his  entire 
audience  were  indifferent  to  the  subject. 

Indifference  in  an  audience  usually  grows  out  of 
a  distaste  for  being  bored.  And  if  it  is  possible  to 
define  so  multiplex  an  experience  as  being  bored 
we  may  say  that  this  sensation,  so  far  as  audiences 
are  concerned,  usually  arises  when  the  subject 
touches  neither  their  experience  nor  their  interest, 
or  is  presented  in  an  unauthoritative  or  uninterest- 
ing manner.    It  will  be  noted  that  our  definition  is 


26        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

in  negative  terms,  from  which  the  speaker  may 
deduce  that  the  antidote  will  be  positive — vigorous 
and  striking. 

Boldness,  sincerity,  and  geniality  will  go  a  long 
way  toward  securing  the  attention  of  indifferent 
listeners;  and  if  in  addition  the  speaker  can  impress 
upon  them  the  importance  of  the  subject  to  them 
as  individuals  or  as  a  body  he  may  proceed  with 
his  serious  arguments  with  reasonable  assurance  of 
an  attentive  hearing.  A  few  striking  and  original 
phrases,  a  well-chosen  illustration,  a  hint  of  the  un- 
usual—any device  that  will  present  a  familiar  topic 
in  a  new  guise  and  make  it  personal  and  vital — 
will  dispel  indifference,  the  greatest  obstacle  a 
speaker  has  to  overcome. 

Where  hostility  toward  the  subject  is  manifest, 
it  must  be  met  by  concession,  as  in  the  case  of  hos- 
tility toward  the  speaker,  and  the  speaker  must 
establish  some  common  ground  from  which  they 
can  approach  gradually  the  things  which  cause 
division.  William  Jennings  Bryan  almost  habitu- 
ally begins  his  address  by  laying  down  some  broad 
generalization  from  the  Constitution  or  the  Scrip- 
tures, which  every  one  accepts,  and  then  proceeds 
to  develop  from  it  the  viewpoint  he  seeks  to  estab- 
lish in  the  minds  of  his  auditors.  Beecher,  in  his 
Liverpool  speech  already  quoted,  had  to  overcome 
violent  antagonism  to  his  subject  as  well  as  to  him- 
self. Some  speakers  prefer  to  meet  opposition  in  a 
fighting  spirit  and  rely  upon  their  mettle  to  win 
through. 


THE  INTRODUCTION  27 

Statement  of  Purpose. — Occasionally  a  speaker 
is  heard  who  is  so  zealous  to  be  fair-minded  and 
impartial  that  the  audience  is  kept  playing  at  hide 
and  seek  with  his  real  viewpoint  in  a  jungle  of 
bewilderingly  vague  generalizations.  If  you  have  a 
purpose  in  speaking — which  is  your  only  excuse  for 
speaking — you  will  save  both  time  and  effort  by 
taking  the  audience  into  your  confidence  at  the  out- 
set. If  you  are  arguing  for  universal  arbitration, 
argue  for  it.  Let  your  purpose  be  known  at  the 
start.  Later  on  you  may  treat  the  other  side  as 
judicially  as  you  please,  but  first  be  sure  that  you 
have  implanted  in  the  minds  of  the  audience  a 
definite  conception  of  your  own  purpose.  Occa- 
sionally, of  course,  your  obejct  may  be  best  attained 
by  indirection — as  in  Mark  Anthony's  oration  over 
the  body  of  Caesar — but  such  occasions  are  excep- 
tional ;  they  seldom  occur  with  the  non-professional 
speaker. 

With  these  functions  of  the  introduction  in  mind 
it  is  worth  while  to  examine  the  speeches  of  men 
successful  in  leading  human  thought,  to  see  what 
forms  the  opening  remarks  may  take.  Any  rigid 
classification  is  impossible  because  the  combination 
of  subject  and  occasion,  and  the  personality  and  the 
style  of  the  speaker  conduce  to  an  infinite  variety. 
An  examination  of  the  speeches  included  in  this 
volume  will  make  it  evident  that  there  are  certain 
types  or  forms  which  are  most  frequently  used  and 
are  generally  effective.  Knapp  and  French  in  their 
handbook,    "The    Speech    for    Special    Occasions," 


28        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

classify  these  common  types  as  Personal,  General, 
Illustrative,  and  the  Anecdote. 

The  Personal  Introduction. — This  is  the  most 
common  type  of  introduction,  and  if  kept  within  the 
bounds  of  sincerity  and  modesty  is  one  of  the 
easiest  and  safest  ways  of  getting  in  touch  with 
an  audience.  In  it  the  speaker  has  an  opportunity 
at  once  to  express  his  gratification  at  the  privilege 
or  honor  accorded  him,  and  to  deprecate  his  ability ; 
also  to  win  the  cordiality  of  the  audience  by  paying 
his  tribute  of  respect  to  the  organization,  or  what- 
ever agency  may  have  called  the  meeting  together. 
Care  must  be  taken  not  to  violate  good  taste  either 
by  overpraise  or  over-humility.  The  personality  of 
the  speaker  should  be  merged  in  the  occasion  and 
not  exalted  above  it.  We  have  no  better  example 
of  a  graceful  introduction  than  the  second  paragraph 
from  Henry  W.  Grady's  oration  on  The  New  South 
delivered  before  the  New  England  Society. 

"Let  me  express  to  you  my  appreciation  of 
the  kindness  by  which  I  am  permitted  to  address 
j^ou.  I  make  this  abrupt  statement  advisedly,  for 
I  feel  that  if,  when  I  raise  my  provincial  voice 
in  this  ancient  and  august  presence,  I  could  find 
courage  for  no  more  than  the  opening  sentence, 
it  would  be  well  if  in  that  instance  I  had  met  in 
a  rough  sense  my  obligation  as  a  guest,  and  had 
perished,  so  to  speak,  with  courtesy  on  my  lips 
and  grace  in  my  heart. 

"Permitted  through  your  kindness  to  catch  my 
second  wind,  let  me  say  that  I  appreciate  the 
significance  of  being  the  first  Southerner  to  speak 


THE  INTRODUCTION  29 

at  this  board,  which  bears  the  substance,  if  it 
surpasses  the  semblance,  of  the  original  New 
England's  hospitality,  and  honors  a  sentiment  that 
in  turn  honors  you,  in  which  my  personality  is 
lost  and  the  compliment  to  my  people  made 
plain." 

For  other  examples  of  this  type,  see  Paul's  Ad- 
dress before  Agrippa  (page  143),  Woodrow  Wilson's 
speech  on  "The  Bil)le  and  Progress"  {page  163), 
Charles  W.  Eliot's  Eulogy  of  Julia  Ward  Howe 
{page  155). 

The  General  Introduction. — The  general  begin- 
ning is  more  formal  than  the  personal  introduction, 
and  is  more  frequently  used  in  speeches  of  dedica- 
tion and  presentation,  or  when  the  occasion,  not  the 
speaker,  is  the  important  affair.  It  will  begin  by 
discussing  the  significance  of  such  occasions  or  sub- 
jects in  general,  and  proceed  thence  naturally  to  the 
specific  occasion  or  theme.  For  variations  of  this 
type  read  Woodrow  V/ilson's  address  on  "The 
Issues  of  Reform"  {page  241),  and  F.  H.  Wines'  on 
"The  New  Criminology"  {page  219). 

The  Illustrative  Introduction. — The  speaker  de- 
sirous of  fixing  a  certain  viewpoint  in  the  mind  of 
his  hearers  can  frequently  do  so  more  effectively  by 
some  well-chosen  illustration  or  comparison  than 
by  simple  statement  of  his  own.  To  be  an  illus- 
tration in  any  real  sense  the  figure  employed  must 
involve  things  that  are  known  by  that  audience. 
The  comparison,  if  made,  must  be  to   something 


30        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

familiar.  Quotations  and  illustrations  from  His- 
tory, Science,  or  the  Arts  frequently  combine  the 
advantages  of  familiarity  and  authenticity,  and  are 
doubly  effective.  Nicholas  Murray  Butler  begins 
his  speech  at  the  inaugural  exercises  at  the  Univer- 
sit}^  of  Virginia  (page  193)  with  a  reference  to  one 
of  the  familiar  dialogues  of  Plato. 

The  Anecdote. — If  well  told  and  pertinent,  an 
anecdote  gives  the  speaker  a  splendid  start,  but 
if  poorly  told  it  imposes  a  tremendous  handicap. 
Suggestions  concerning  the  telling  of  stories  are 
found  elsewhere  in  this  book.  In  deciding  upon 
an  introduction  of  this  nature,  the  speaker  must 
consider  his  own  ability.  If  it  is  not  a  dependable 
quantity  he  had  far  better  risk  his  anecdotes  in  the 
main  body  of  the  speech,  where  a  failure  to  secure 
a  laugh  has"  not  quite  so  damaging  an  effect. 

Introduction  for  a  Technical  Speech. — When  a 
professional  man  is  addressing  members  of  his  own 
profession  his  choice  of  introduction  will  be  gov- 
erned by  the  same  motives  as  apply  to  any  other 
speech.  But  the  occasion  frequently  occurs  when 
the  professional  man  must  talk  to  laymen  and  when 
his  technical  vocabulary  is  not  intelligible  to  his 
audience.  Salesmen  selling  goods,  engineers,  and 
architects  presenting  plans  to  committees  or  boards, 
specialists  who  have  occasion  to  interest  a  mixed 
audience  find  these  functions  added  to  the  other 
requirements  of  the  introduction  : 


THE  INTRODUCTION  31 

1.  To  make  clear  the  general  scope  or  purpose  of 
the  subject. 

2.  To  make  it  vital  by  comparison  with  familiar 
things,  or  by  setting  forth  its  advantages  in  terms 
of  utility,  economy,  or  comfort. 

3.  To  define  such  essential  principles  as  will 
enable  the  audience  to  grasp  the  subject  as  a  whole 
as  the  speech  proceeds  with  its  development. 

The  speech  on  "Vanadium  Steels"  {page  103), 
given  by  a  student  in  the  classroom  at  Swarth- 
more.  is  opened  effectively  in  accordance  with  these 
principles. 


Chapter  IV 
THE  CONCLUSION 

Purpose  of  the  Conclusion. — The  closing  para- 
graphs of  the  extemporaneous  speech,  while  not  so 
formal  as  the  peroration  in  oratory  nor  as  logically- 
exacting  as  the  summary  in  debate,  have  yet  a  very 
definite  relation  to  the  speech  as  a  whole,  and  an  es- 
sential function  to  perform.  The  conclusion  is  neces- 
sary to  give  final  emphasis  to  the  theme,  to  fix  it  in 
the  minds  of  the  auditors,  and  having  done  this,  to 
enable  the  speaker  to  take  leave  of  them  gracefully 
while  their  interest  is  at  flood-tide.  He  has  pre- 
sented his  case,  drawn  his  picture,  or  pleaded  his 
cause,  as  may  be.  Nothing  new  is  to  be  added. 
The  audience  must  not  be  wearied  by  repetition,  yet 
something  is  needed  to  drive  the  argument  home — 
something  brief,  vivid,  striking,  that  will  send  the 
audience  away  with  the  speaker's  thought  strongly 
impressed  and  with  the  satisfied  feeling  that  comes 
from  hearing  a  clear  and  interesting  discourse  force- 
fully and  happily  concluded. 

Tlie  attention  quickens  involuntarily  when  the 
audience  senses  the  approaching  end,  and  the 
speaker  must  be  prepared  to  turn  this  quickening 
to  his  advantage  in  pressing  home  his  thought. 

32 


THE  CONCLUSION  33 

Qualities  of  the  Conclusion. — To  fulfil  these  pur- 
poses, the  conclusion  must  have  certain  definite 
qualities,  the  foremost  of  which  are  brevity,  force, 
and  appropriateness.  Brevity  is  the  sine  qua  non 
of  the  successful  ending.  Do  not  multiply  your 
phrases  however  they  may  please  your  own  ears. 
An  audience  disappointed  of  an  anticipated  termina- 
tion quickly  grows  impatient  and  restive.  Do  not 
be  tempted  by  the  seeming  opportunity  to  add  just 
one  thought  more.  Deliver  your  conclusion  as  you 
have  planned  it,  and  leave  the  audience  satisfied  but 
not  satiated. 

Force  is  essential  to  the  success  of  the  conclusion. 
The  audience  expects  a  climax.  The  speaker  should 
feel  the  necessity  of  it.  Yet  many  thoughtful 
speeches  are  weakened  by  a  lame  and  halting  con- 
clusion both  as  to  voice  and  sentiment.  Confidence 
and  conviction  beget  like  qualities  in  the  audience, 
and  should  be  dominant  characteristics  of  the  clos- 
ing paragraph. 

Appropriateness  is  the  final  test  of  a  good  con- 
clusion. The  closing  paragraph  must  be  in  keeping 
with  the  body  of  the  speech,  which  efifect  is  most 
readily  attained  by  having  the  purpose  of  the  speech 
clearly  in  mind  when  planning  the  conclusion.  If 
the  discussion  is  simple,  personal  and  direct,  a 
sudden  turning  to  the  grand,  sublime,  and  reverential 
style  is  almost  certain  to  produce  an  anticlimax.  If 
clearness  is  the  end  sought,  if  the  speech  is  an  expo- 
sition, a  narrative,  or  deals  with  technical  or  scien- 
tific subjects,  the  conclusion  will  appropriately  be 


34         EXTEMPORANEOUS   SPEAKING 

used  to  intensify  the  mental  picture  of  the  situation, 
conditions,  laws,  or  mechanisms  that  have  been  dis- 
cussed. If  the  efifort  has  been  to  win  conviction,  or 
rouse  to  action,  a  more  impassioned  st3de  in  closing 
will  be  justified.  Whatever  the  purpose  in  speak- 
ing, the  conclusion  should  seem  to  be  the  natural 
and  logical  ending  to  the  train  of  ideas  presented. 
The  conclusion  must  conclude. 

Forms  of  the  Conclusion. — In  closing,  as  in  begin- 
ning the  speech,  the  speaker  is  not  limited  by  fixed 
forms  or  rules,  but  may  employ  that  kind  of  conclu- 
sion which  seems  best  adapted  to  the  subject,  to  the 
occasion,  or  to  his  style  and  purpose  in  speaking. 
Knapp  and  French  classify  the  most  frequently  used 
types  as  the  Personal,  the  Summary,  the  Hortatory 
ending,  and  the  Quotation.  A  study  of  the  speeches 
in  Part  II  will  disclose  examples  of  these  types,  and 
show  how  they  may  be  varied  or  combined  to  suit 
the  purpose  of  the  speaker. 

The  Personal  Ending. — The  personal  ending  is 
employed  when  the  speaker  feels  that  his  climax  is 
too  abrupt  to  serve  as  a  leave-taking,  or  when  the 
occasion  seems  to  require  the  addition  of  a  few 
personal  words.  A  brief  appreciation  of  the  cour- 
tesy or  patience  shown  him,  and  an  expression  of 
his  pleasure  in  speaking,  serve  this  purpose  admir- 
ably. Often,  too,  the  speaker  may  make  his  sin- 
cerity felt  by  employing  his  closing  words  to 
express  his  personal  tribute  or  conviction. 

Professor  Bancroft,  in  his  speech  on  "The  Future 


THE  CONCLUSION  35 

of  Chemistry"   (page   18T),  uses   a  combination    of 
the  personal    ending  with  the   summary. 

The  Summary. — The  informal  speech  does  not 
require  the  exact  summary  that  is  used  in  debate, 
Init  in  modification  it  is  one  of  the  safest  and  most 
forceful  methods  for  the  inexperienced  speaker.  The 
aim  must  be  to  sum  up  what  the  speech  has  at- 
tempted to  convey,  not  the  particular  step  or  argu- 
ments employed.  This  is  well  illustrated  in  the 
conclusion  of  AT.  T.  Frisbie's  speech  on  "The  Un- 
known Quantities"  (page  81).  The  aini  must  be 
to  present  the  gist  of  the  speech  in  a  striking  way ; 
an  epigram  or  a  paraphrased  proverb  or  quotation 
will  linger  in  the  hearer's  mind  after  specific  argu- 
ments have  faded. 

Hortatory  Ending. — This  is  the  natural  ending  for 
all  persuasive  speeches,  wherein  the  speaker  seeks 
to  arouse  the  emotions  of  the  audience  or  to  secure 
their  action,  although  it  is  by  no  means  confined  to 
this  one  type  of  speech. 

The  study  of  the  following  examples  will  reveal 
its  effectiveness  under  widely  varying  conditions : 

Woodrow  Wilson's  address  at  the  Jackson  Day 
Dinner  (page  227). 

Nicholas  Murray  Butler  at  the  Lake  Mohonk 
Conference  (page  179). 

Nicholas  Murray  Butler  at  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia (page  193). 

Illustration. — Under  this  head  we  may  group  the 
♦{notation,  the  allusion,  and  the  general  illustration, 


36        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

through  their  common  function  of  strengthening  the 
speaker's  presentation  by  associating  it  with  fami- 
liar and  accepted  things  and  with  the  thoughts  of 
men  of  established  position  and  authority. 

President  Vincent's  Inaugural  Address  {page 
197)  concludes  with  a  combination  of  the  horta- 
tory ending  and  a  quotation  from  Goethe  which 
happily  expresses  the  broad  ideas  of  the  speech. 

Ex-President  Eliot,  of  Harvard,  in  his  tribute  to 
Julia  Ward  Howe  {page  155),  makes  graceful  em- 
ployment of  her  own  lines  in  concluding. 

Robert  M.  La  Follette,  in  his  speech  in  the  United 
States  Senate  on  the  Railway  Rates  Bill  {page  117), 
reenforces  his  general  contention  by  a  quotation 
from  Daniel  Webster. 

Preparation. — Whatever  form  of  conclusion  may 
be  chosen  by  the  speaker,  it  should  be  carefully 
phrased  in  advance  and  in  some  cases  even  com- 
mitted to  memory.  The  assurance  that  comes  from 
the  knowledge  that  one  has  at  his  tongue's  end  a 
forceful  and  adequate  conclusion  contributes  greatly 
to  the  confidence  and  effectiveness  of  the  informal 
speaker. 


Chapter  V 

THE  DISCUSSION 

Importance. — Important  as  are  the  beginning  and 
the  ending,  it  remains  that  the  speech  itself  is  the 
thing.  The  impression  made  by  the  speaker  will 
depend  ultimately  upon  the  quality  and  the  delivery 
of  the  main  body  of  the  speech.  We  have  shown 
that  the  introduction  and  conclusion  serve  their 
important  purposes,  but  excellence  in  these  two 
divisions  must  in  no  sense  be  considered  a  disguise 
for  poverty  of  thought  or  slovenly  presentation 
throughout  the  speech  itself. 

The  Speaker's  Problem. — Assuming  adequate 
mental  preparation,  the  speaker's  part  is  to  get  his 
material  across  the  footlights;  to  make  his  hearers 
see  the  thing  as  he  sees  it;  to  accept  what  he  has 
accepted;  to  be  moved  as  he  is  moved.  A  mere 
statement  of  fact  or  opinion  is  not  sufficient.  Every 
audience  contains  persons  of  widely  varying  degrees 
of  intelligence,  information,  and  opinion,  and  the 
speaker  is  to  bring  them  all  to  one  viewpoint,  his 
own.  He  must  foresee  these  differences  when  plan- 
ning his  speech ;  must  endeavor  to  foresee  what 
points  the  audience  will  find  difficult  of  acceptance, 
and  must  elaborate  these.    He  must  consider  that  a 

37 


(<ir  eJEf  *-i' 0  -  • '  f"**  "^^^ 


38        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

statement  which  is  almost  axiomatic  to  one  part 
of  his  audience  may  seem  only  crass  assertion  to 
another. 

Efficiency  in  speaking  involves  carrying  the  audi- 
ence with  one  through  difficulties  and  across  ob- 
stacles, not  in  running  a  spectacular  race  and  dis- 
tancing the  field. 

Assertion;  Four  Kinds  of  Support. — Whatever 
the  purpose  of  the  speech,  whatever  the  subject  or 
theme,  the  statement  of  it  in  the  first  instance  will 
be  mere  assertion,  and  it  becomes  the  business  of 
the  speaker  to  support  these  assertions. 

Professor  Arthur  E.  Phillips,  in  his  book,  "Ef- 
fective Speaking,"  makes  the  following  analysis  of 
the  four  forms  of  support,  which  he  defines  as  Re- 
statement, General  Illustration,  Specific  Instance, 
and  Testimony : 

"We  say  (assertion)  'Greece  had  great  men.' 
and  continue,  'She  had  master  minds.'  This  is 
Restatement;  we  have  said  the  same  thing  over 
again  in  different  vi^ords.  We  go  on,  'She  had 
orators,  philosophers,  poets.'  This  is  a  General 
Illustration.  We  have  supported  the  assertion  by- 
presenting  some  of  its  general  features.  We  pro- 
ceed, 'She  had  Demosthenes.  Plato,  Homer,  etc' 
This  is  Specific  Instance.  We  have  strengthened 
our  original  assertion  by  actual  cases.  Finally, 
we  say,  'Macaulay  says :  "Her  intellectual  em- 
pire is  imperishable."  '  This  is  Testimony.  We 
have  supported  our  assertion  by  corroboration. 
It  will  now  be  clear  that  the  great  task  of  the 
speaker  who  would  be  effective  in  the  profes- 
sional,   social    or   business   field    is    the    develop- 


THE  DISCUSSION  39 

ment  of  judgment  in  respect  as  to  when  an  asser- 
tion needs  support,  and  the  kind  and  degree  of 
support  demanded." 

The  example  given  is  merely  illustrative  of  the 
use  of  the  four  forms  of  support,  and  is  not  in- 
tended as  a  model.  Few  statements  need  such 
ela])orate  defense.  Ordinarily,  one  or  two  of  the 
four  will  afford  ample  support.  Restatement  and 
Specific  Instance  being  most  commonly  used. 

Qualities  of  the  Discussion.- — While  it  is  both  im- 
possible and  undesirable  to  prescribe  definite  forms 
to  be  followed  in  planning  the  discussion,  there  are 
certain  qualities  Avhich  an  analysis  of  successful 
speeches  reveals  as  being  essential.  These  are 
Unity,  Sequence,  Clearness,  Force,  Elegance,  and 
Appeal. 

Unliy. — The  principle  of  unity  requires  that  the 
speaker  shall  stick  to  his  theme.  Unity  can  be  in- 
sured only  by  a  careful  planning  of  the  speech  in 
advance.  Unity  means  no  digressions  that  do  not 
directly  strengthen  the  argument,  and  no  favorite 
stories  or  quotations  that  do  not  illustrate  the  case 
in  point.  The  impromptu  speaker  is  likely  to  vio- 
late the  principle  of  unity  owing  to  the  lack  of 
perspective,  which  leads  him  to  over-elaborate 
trivial  details.  Read  the  speech  of  Jefferson  Davis 
"On  Withdrawing  from  the  Union"  {page  139),  and 
notice  how  inevitable  each  successive  thought  is  to 
the  progress  of  the  speech. 


40        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

Sequence. — Logical  arrangement  or  sequence  of 
the  material  enables  the  audience  to  follow  the 
argument  more  readily  than  when  the  speaker 
chases  his  theme  from  pillar  to  post.  In  arguing 
from  past  to  future,  from  cause  to  effect,  or  effect 
to  cause,  in  description  or  narration,  the  speaker 
should  have  his  end  clearly  in  view  and  arrange  his 
material  at  the  outset  so  that  each  step  shall  carry 
him  nearer  the  goal.  Each  point  should  be  estab- 
lished in  turn,  the  speech  progressing  smoothly  and 
logically  toward  an  inevitable  conclusion.  Examine 
these  speeches  in  Part  II,  and  notice  their 
structure : 

"Ethics  of  Corporate  INIanagement,"  by  Charles 
W.  Eliot  {page  59). 

"The  Unknown  Quantities  in  Advertising,"  by 
M.  T.  Frisbie  {page  81). 

Clearness. — The  importance  of  clearness  cannot 
be  overestimated.  Words  and  phrasing  should  con- 
vey exactly  the  shade  of  meaning  intended.  How 
futile  to  build  an  elaborate  argument  upon  a  prem- 
ise that  is  misunderstood  by  the  audience!  Vague 
phrases  must  be  avoided;  the  minds  of  the  listeners 
must  be  held  to  the  topic  by  specific  illustrations. 
An  audience  cannot  turn  back  a  page  to  clear  up  a 
doubtful  point,  but  must  grasp  the  idea  as  it  is 
spoken,  a  fact  which  the  speaker  should  bear  in 
mind  when  preparing  his  speech. 

All  of  the  speeches  of  Robert  M.  La  Follette, 
in  Part  II,  are  notably  clear,  owing  to  the  speaker's 
unerring  instinct  for  the  right  word. 


THE  DISCUSSION  41 

Force. — Many  a  speech,  otherwise  excellent,  fails 
to  convince  because  it  lacks  the  forceful  qualities 
which  are  requisite  to  impress  and  hold  the  minds 
of  the  auditors.  Psychology  teaches  that  attention 
travels  in  waves,  not  in  straight  lines,  and  the 
speaker  must  plan  to  ride  the  crest  of  each  wave. 
This  means  that  there  must  be  light  and  shade  in 
the  matter  of  emphasis,  on  both  material  and  de- 
livery. Striking  phrases  and  illustrations,  varied 
sentence-structure,  questions  asked  and  answered, 
will  all  contribute  to  forcefulness.  Let  the  speech 
be  a  vigorous  expression  of  personality ;  the  various 
devices  will  then  fall  into  almost  unconscious  em- 
ployment. 

Woodrow  Wilson's  speech,  "The  Bible  and  Prog- 
ress" (page  163)  is  an  excellent  example  of  the 
forceful  treatment  of  a  familiar  theme. 

Elegance. — Elegance  of  diction  distinguishes  the 
great  from  the  mediocre  orator,  and  while  the  non- 
professional speaker  may  have  little  use  for  the 
oratorical  style,  he  should  recognize  that  distinction 
in  speech  is  an  advantage  worth  striving  for.  Gram- 
mar and  pronunciation  should  be  above  reproach, 
and  a  careful  study  of  the  principles  of  rhetoric  will 
repay  the  average  speaker  many  times  over. 

George  E.  Vincent's  "Inuagural  Address"  {page 
197)  and  Nicholas  Murray  Butler's  "The  Univer- 
sity is  a  Democracy"  (page  193)  are  illustrative  of 
the  distinction  conferred  by  elegance  in  style  and 
diction. 


4:2        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

Appeal. — Finally,  the  speech  must  be  interesting 
to  the  very  people  for  whom  it  is  intended.  It  must 
appeal  to  them,  to  their  reason,  sentiments,  under- 
standing, or  humor.  To  give  it  this  factor  of  per- 
sonal interest  the  speaker  must  connect  the  ideas  he 
seeks  to  establish  with  things  already  known  and 
accepted  by  the  audience.  In  every  mind  there  is 
a  wealth  of  knowledge  gathered  from  previous  ex- 
periences— facts,  impressions,  sensations,  and  opin- 
ions. These  are  materials  to  hand  for  the  speaker. 
If  he  is  clever  enough  to  select  his  illustrations  and 
evidence  from  the  things  already  accepted,  his 
speech  will  appeal  to  the  listeners  in  a  way  that 
will  s:o  far  toward  success. 


Chapter  VI 

PERSONALITY 

Winning  Personality. — A  winning  personality  is 
the  open  sesame  to  the  good  will  of  an  audience. 
The  speaker  who,  like  William  Jennings  Bryan, 
steps  before  his  auditors  with  a  commanding  pres- 
ence, greeting  them  with  a  genial  smile  and  includ- 
ing every  one  present  in  a  sympathetic  glance,  has 
half  won  his  battle  before  beginning  to  speak.  The 
audience  warms  towards  such  a  man  and  settles 
back  comfortably,  confident  that  they  will  like  him, 
and  be  interested  in  what  he  has  to  say.  Such  per- 
sonality in  its  highest  type  is  ])orn  in  the  man ;  what 
the  audience  gets  is  merely  the  outward  reflection 
of  the  nature  and  disposition  of  the  speaker  who 
stands  before  them. 

Cultivating  Personality. — Those  less  fortunately 
gifted  can  successfully  cultivate  a  pleasing  presence 
by  observing  in  others  the  qualities  which  produce 
a  pleasing  effect  and  by  criticizing  themselves  for 
any  deficiency  in  this  respect.  Study,  analyze  the 
effect  that  distinguished  speakers  have  upon  you, 
and  ascertain  what  qualities  contribute  to  it. 

Geniality. — Foremost  among  the  elements  of  a 
winning   personality   is   that   overflowing  of   good 

43 


44        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

nature-  and  good  humor  which  we  term  geniality. 
The  speaker  should  like  his  audience.  He  should 
desire  to  be  friends  with  them  and  to  carry  them 
with  him  amicably.  The  old  saying  that  like  begets 
like  is  very  true  of  the  correspondence  in  feeling 
between  speaker  and  audience. 

Dignity. — In  cultivating  geniality,  the  good  taste 
of  the  speaker  must  warn  him  not  to  overstep  the 
bounds  of  self-respect.  He  must  present  a  dignified 
bearing.  Any  cheapness,  vulgarity,  or  servility  ;  any 
conscious  playing  down  to  the  audience  will  in- 
evitably displease  them  and  react  unfavorably  upon 
the  speaker. 

Earnestness. — Earnestness  must  be  the  guarantee 
that  the  speaker  is  not  talking  against  time.  Ear- 
nestness should  comprise  about  equal  parts  of  sin- 
cerity and  enthusiasm.  The  speaker  who  is  enthu- 
siastic in  his  convictions  will  be  earnest  in  his  bear- 
ing. Earnestness  is  his  tribute  to  the  sincerity  of 
the  audience.  Flippancy,  familiarity,  and  super- 
ficiality are  to  be  avoided  when  the  occasion  is 
serious. 

Originality. — This,  above  all,  "to  thine  own  self 
be  true."  We  do  not  go  to  hear  speakers  with  the 
same  motive  with  which  we  turn  to  our  encyclo- 
pedias, to  find  out  the  recorded  knowledge  of  the 
matter  in  hand.  What  we  seek  is  the  speaker's 
own  mind  and  belief  and  knowledge,  and  the  re- 
action of  his  personality  on  the  subject.  Serious 
and  thorough  thinking  upon  the  topic  under  dis- 


PERSONALITY  45 

cussion  will  give  the  speaker  a  poise  and  power 
that  will  be  quickly  sensed  by  the  audience.  The 
attention  quickens  involuntarily  when  challenged 
by  a  personality  exhibiting  both  authority  and 
originality. 

Mental  Bearing. — Without  dilating  upon  the  rela- 
tions existing  between  physical  attitude  and  mental 
bearing,  we  may  say  that  both  should  exhibit  the 
four  qualities  that  contribute  to  the  winning  person- 
ality: Geniality,  dignity,  earnestness,  and  original- 
ity. All  four  should  be  reflected  alike  in  the 
speaker's  mind,  manner,  and  method. 

Delivery. — The  manner  of  delivery  of  any  form  of 
public  discourse  is  appropriately  determined  by  its 
style.  Oratory  and  Argumentation  have  special  re- 
quirements which  cannot  be  considered  under  the 
head  of  Extemporaneous  Speaking.  The  distin-  i 
guishing  features  of  the  extempore  speech  should  be 
simplicity,  spontaneit}^  and  directness,  from  which 
it  follows  that  the  delivery  of  the  speech  should 
exhibit  much  of  the  freedom  of  dignified  and  serious 
conversation.  The  occasion  itself  will  exercise  a 
controlling  influence  on  the  delivery.  Most  non- 
professional speakers  err  on  the  side  of  undue  for- 
mality in  their  occasional  efiforts.  Not  being  accus- 
tomed to  facing  an  audience  and  reading  its  moods, 
but  impressed  by  the  necessity  of  a  serious  effort, 
their  style  is  often  stilted  and  clogged  with  bookish 
phrases  acquired  from  ill-digested  reading. 

Speak  clearly,  correctly,  and  confidently;  articu- 


46        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

late  distinctly,  that  you  ma}-  be  heard ;  and  for  the 
rest,  remember  that  you  are  talking-  to  each  member 
of  your  audience  personally  and  directly,  and  that 
it  is  necessary  that  each  one  shall  hear  and  under- 
stand _vou. 

Indistinctness,  nasality,  unpleasant  mannerisms, 
and  colloquialisms  are  to  be  avoided.  The  conver- 
sational tone  does  not  excuse  carelessness  in  diction, 
nor  in  pronunciation  or  rhetoric. 

Gestures  should  be  used  without  hesitation  when- 
ever the  inclination  to  gesture  arises  spontaneously 
from  the  earnestness  of  the  speaker  or  the  demands 
of  his  speech.  Studied  or  conscious  efifect  in  gesture 
has,  however,  little  excuse  in  informal  speaking. 


Chapter  VII 
AFTER-DINNER   SPEAKING 

The  After-Dinner  Speech. — With  the  exception 
of  pulpit  oratory,  the  after-dinner  speech  is  prob- 
ably the  most  widely  practiced  form  of  public 
speaking  in  America.  Organizations  of  every  de- 
scription— social,  political,  commercial,  fraternal, 
and  literary — all  have  adopted  the  banquet  with  its 
attendant  speech-making  as  an  annual  function. 
Dinners  are  constantly  being  given  in  honor  of 
some  person  or  event,  not  to  mention  the  countless 
private  functions  at  which  informal  speaking  plays 
an  important  part. 

Qualities  of  the  Toast. — The  prevalent  miscon- 
ception that  the  after-dinner  speech  must  be  humor- 
ous is  responsible  for  many  failures.  The  essential 
quality  of  after-dinner  oratory  is  felicity.  It  is  a 
time  of  good  cheer  and  good  fellowship.  For  the 
time  being,  at  least,  all  who  sit  at  the  table  are 
friendly,  and  persons  having  antagonistic  opinions 
should  refrain  from  discussing  them.  Subjects  to 
be  avoided  are  scientific  and  philosophical  themes 
which  require  concentrated  attention,  but  this  does 
not  mean  that  the  speaker  must  turn  entirely  from 
serious  questions  and  attempt  the  role  of  humorist. 

47 


48        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

The  speech  should  be  agreeable,  both  in  its  matter 
and  manner  of  presentation.  To  be  agreeable,  how- 
ever, it  is  not  necessary  to  be  humorous ;  to  lack 
humor  is  not  necessarily  to  be  dull.  Woodrow 
Wilson's  speech  at  the  Jackson  Day  Dinner  {page 
227)  is  an  excellent  example  of  a  felicitous  after- 
dinner  speech.  It  was  widely  discussed  at  the  time. 

Choosing  the  Theme. — A  wide  range  of  topics  is 
open  to  the  after-dinner  speaker.  He  is  under  no 
compulsion  to  search  for  a  theme  upon  which  he 
believes  all  persons  present  will  agree,  or  one  which 
is  so  new  that  they  will  have  no  opinion  on  it.  An 
audience  always  respects  a  speaker  who  frankly 
differs  from  them,  who  states  both  sides  fairly,  and 
candidly  sets  forth  his  own  contentions.  There  is 
no  better  source  of  after-dinner  topics  than  local  or 
general  issues  of  present  interest. 

Preparation. — The  subject  chosen,  the  speaker 
must  give  himself  to  careful  preparation.  Though 
he  may  be  asked  to  make  only  "a  few  informal  re- 
marks," he  should,  nevertheless,  be  thoroughly 
ready.  The  informal  remarks  which  are  most  appre- 
ciated are  those  which  are  formally  prepared.  The 
speaker  who  trusts  to  the  inspiration  of  the  moment 
for  something  to  say  is  likely  to  disappoint  both 
himself  and  his  audience.  No  one  is  justified  in 
taking  the  time  of  the  audience  unless  he  knows 
what  he  is  to  say  and  how  he  will  say  it.  The  hints 
given  in  an  earlier  chapter  regarding  the  methods 
of  preparing  a  speech  are  applicable  to  after-dinner 


AFTER-DINNER  SPEAKING  49 

speaking.  But  whether  the  method  be  memoriter 
or  extemporaneous,  or  a  combination  of  both,  the 
preparation  should  be  thorough,  the  more  especially 
if  the  extemporaneous  method  is  chosen. 

What  Lowell  said  of  writing,  "the  art  consists  in 
knowing  what  to  leave  in  the  inkpot,"  is  equally 
true  of  speaking.  The  requirements  of  after-dinner 
speaking  make  especially  important  the  art  of  know- 
ing what  to  leave  unsaid.  The  audience  is  not  in  a 
critical  mood.  It  will  applaud  almost  any  senti- 
ment, and  gives  the  noisiest  approval  to  that  which 
is  jolliest  or  most  entertaining.  After-dinner  ap- 
proval, however,  is  not  always  confirmed  by  the 
judgment  of  the  next  morning. 

Many  after-dinner  speeches  outlast  the  patience 
of  the  audience.  Speeches  of  five  to  ten  minutes 
should  prevail.  It  is  said  that  the  secret  of  Senator 
Hoar's  perennial  popularity  at  the  Harvard  Phi 
Beta  Kappa  dinner  was  that  his  speeches  contained 
one  general  idea  clearly  stated,  and  one  fresh  story 
well  told. 

Stories. — The  after-dinner  speech  should  contain 
more  stories  than  other  forms  of  speech,  but  the 
stories  should  be  fresh  and  authentic.  Nothing  is 
more  wearisome  than  the  stale  story,  and  to  tell  an 
old  yarn  as  a  personal  experience  is  not  only  bad 
ethics,  but  is  likely  to  repel  rather  than  amuse  the 
audience. 

Delivery. — As  previously  noted,  the  after-dinner 
speaker  must  not  only  have  agreeable  matter,  but 


50        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

he  must  add  an  agreeable  manner.  The  speaker  is 
usually  the  guest  of  the  company,  and  to  his  host 
he  will  be  gracious.  At  the  beginning  he  may  say 
some  words  of  cordial  greeting,  or  counter  the  pleas- 
antry of  the  toastmaster,  always  remembering  that 
sincerity  is  the  requisite  in  all  true  compliment,  and 
that  fulsome  praise  is  worse  than  none  at  all.  Such 
a  beginning  not  only  serves  the  amenities,  but 
accords  with  the  simple,  direct  manner  of  speaking 
which  is  one  of  the  charms  of  after-dinner  oratory. 
Whatever  makes  the  speech  seem  informal  adds 
much  to  its  effectiveness. 

If  the  Athenian  orators  dreaded  to  mispronounce 
a  word  for  fear  they  would  be  hissed  by  the  people, 
the  American  orators  should  eschew  slovenliness. 
It  is  fitting  that  with  the  beautiful  decorations,  the 
sumptuous  menu,  and  perfection  of  service  which 
characterize  our  dinners,  there  should  be  felicity  of 
speech.  In  after-dinner  speaking,  fittingness  is  ef- 
fectiveness. Elegance  of  speech  is  always  charm- 
ing, but  at  a  banquet  it  is  particularly  so. 

Entertainment  as  an  End. — There  are  certain  gen- 
eral principles  which  are  helpful  in  making  speeches 
interesting,  although  entertainment  may  not  be  the 
chief  desideratum.  The  importance  of  making  every 
speech  interesting  so  as  to  insure  its  appeal  to  the 
audience  has  been  touched  upon  in  a  previous 
chapter.  The  speaker  who  feels  that  his  speech 
may  fail  to  interest  will  do  well  to  ask  himself  the 
following  questions:     Is  it  vital?     Does  it  contain 


AFTER-DINNER  SPEAKINCx  r,i 

elements  of  surprise  and  suspense?     Are  the  illus- 
trations well  chosen? 

Vitality. — A  speecfi  will  be  vital  if  it  appeals  to 
those  fundamental  motives  that  underlie  all  human 
character :  love  of  family,  of  home,  of  country ;  self- 
preservation  ;  gain  or  ambition ;  or,  if  it  treats  of 
courage,  ability,  unselfishness,  or  any  of  the  qualities 
which  men  like  to  fancy  are  exemplified  in  them- 
selves. A  direct  personal  style  and  specific  rather 
than  general  language  go  far  toward  giving  the 
spoken  word  that  vitality  which  penetrates  the 
hearer's  mind  with  the  force  of  a  special  message. 

Surprise  and  Suspense. — The  elements  of  surprise 
and  suspense  are  the  fundamentals  of  humor.  It  is 
the  unexpected  word  or  the  unusual  situation  in 
infinite  combination  or  variation  that  sets  us  off 
into  peals  of  laughter.  It  is  uncertainty  of  the  out- 
come that  holds  us  breathless  through  the  well- 
written  short  story.  Conflict  wins  attention.  When 
the  speaker  turns  to  narration  for  purposes  of  illus- 
tration he  should  remember  that  suspense  is  the 
quality  most  essential  to  effectiveness,  and  if  he  is 
Avorking  for  a  humorous  climax,  that  it  must  come 
as  a  surprise. 

Illustrations. — Illustrations,  whether  humorous  or 
merely  illuminative,  should  receive  careful  attention, 
to  the  end  that  they  may  really  illustrate.  There  is 
such  a  wealth  of  material  at  the  command  of  an 
observant  person  that  there  is  little  excuse  for  the 
obvious  "chestnuts"  or  anything  offensive  to  good 


52        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

taste.  Half  of  the  story  is  in  the  telling,  a  gift  to 
which  some  are  born.  Everyone,  however,  should 
be  able  to  tell  a  good  story  creditably.  Many  of  the 
failures  are  due  to  lack  of  preparation,  to  the  omis- 
sion or  misplacing  of  some  important  word,  to  lack 
of  pause  or  emphasis,  or  poor  judgment  in  selecting 
and  arranging  the  points.  Know  your  story,  prac- 
tice it  until  the  pauses  and  inflections  come  as  natu- 
rally as  the  words,  and  tell  it  directly  to  some  person 
in  the  audience. 


Chapter   VIII 
SPEAKING  IN  BUSINESS 

Its  Uses. — Elsewhere  in  this  book  is  offered  some 
testimony  regarding  the  opportunities  for  efficient 
speakers  in  the  business  field,  and  the  possibilities 
of  leadership  that  are  opened  to  the  man  who  can 
influence  his  fellows.  Both  for  employer  and  em- 
ployee is  the  power  of  speaking  effectively  a  busi- 
ness asset  of  great  importance.  Examine  a  few  of 
the  problems  which  occur  regularly  in  the  day's 
work,  such  as : 

1.  Settling  disputes  between   employer  and   em- 

ployees ; 

2.  Getting  better  results  or  fairer  treatment; 

3.  Hiring; 

4.  Selling  goods  or  services; 

5.  Presenting  reports  or  plans. 

In  every  one  of  these  instances  the  ability  of  the 
speaker  to  influence  the  other  party  and  carry  his 
point  should  result  in  direct  monetary  return  in 
addition  to  the  increased  mental  power  which  re- 
sults from  each  demonstration  of  efficiency.  Since 
practically  all  business  relations  are  those  of  buying 
and  selling  or  exchange,  the  problem  becomes  how 

53 


U        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

to  influence  men  to  give   up  something  they  pos- 
sess  in  return  for  whatever  you  have  to  give  them. 

Tv^^o  Methods. — Business  men  recognize  and  em- 
ploy, sometimes  separately  but  often  in  combina- 
tion, two  methods  of  influencing  men.  The  first  is 
Reason;  the  second  is  Suggestion.  Salesmanship 
and  Advertising  rest  alike  on  these  two  principles. 
Both  have  their  adherents  and  constitute  studies  in 
themselves. 

The  method  of  Reason  involves  an  appeal  to  the 
hearer's  judgment  by  means  of  arguments  designed 
to  impress  upon  him  the  advantages  which  will 
accrue  from  accepting  the  speaker's  proposition. 
The  person  to  be  influenced  is  encouraged  to  weigh 
and  to  compare,  to  balance,  the  variovis  courses 
open  to  him,  and  the  success  of  the  plea  depends 
upon  the  speaker's  arguments  being  so  convincing 
as  to  outweigh  in  the  hearer's  judgment  the  alter- 
native propositions. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  method  of  Suggestion 
avoids  rousing  the  judgment  to  action,  and  appeals 
directly  to  the  will,  from  which  it  hopes  to  secure 
an  immediate  response. 

Both  methods  have  many  advocates  in  the  busi- 
ness world,  but  the  use  of  one  in  no  way  precludes 
the  use  of  the  other,  and  a  skilful  blending  of  the 
two  may  frequently  be  used  successfully  when 
either  would  have  failed  alone. 

Walter  Dill  Scott,  in  his  book,  "Influencing  Men 
in  Business,"  makes  the  following  analysis  of  the 
comparative  value  of  the  two  methods: 


SPEAKIXG  IN  BUSINESS  55 

"Argument  is  to  be  preferred — 

1.  When  exploiting  any  new  thing; 

2.  When  exploiting  anything  having  unusual  talk- 

ing   points     (cheapness,    novelty,    economy, 
etc.)  ; 

0.  When  it  is  the  exclusive  form  of  persuasion; 

4.  In  influencing  professional  buyers; 

5.  As  an  effective  form  of  flattery. 

"Suggestion  is  preferred — 

1.  When  inadequate  time  is  given  for  arguments; 

2.  In  securing  action  following  conviction ; 

3.  As  a  supplementary  method  of  convincing; 

4.  In  dealing  with  the  general  public ; 

5.  In  securing  immediate  action." 

Examples. — One  has  only  to  turn  to  the  columns 
of  our  periodicals  to  find  abundant  illustration  of 
the  two  methods  in  advertising.  "Use  Pears'  Soap," 
"Ivory  Soap — It  Floats,"  and  Gold  Medal  Flour's 
"Eventually;  why  not  now?"  are  familiar  types  of 
the  suggestive  method  that  have  been  enormously 
profitable.  The  Angelus,  and  Colgate's  toilet  ar- 
ticles are  usually  advertised  under  the  "reason  why" 
method,  as  are  usually  motor  cars  exploiting  ex- 
clusive devices.  But  while  we  find  in  advertising 
and  salesmanship  our  most  striking  examples  of 
these  methods,  they  are  none  the  less  applicable  to 
all  other  business  problems  where  influencing  men 
is  the  desideratum,  and  a  few  suggestions  can  be 
offered  concerning  their  effective  employment. 


56        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

Effective  Arguments. — The  attitude  of  a  business 
man  toward  a  new  proposition  of  any  kind  may  be 
illustrated  by  six  questions,  upon  which  in  some 
variation  he  must  satisfy  his  mind  before  he  will 
accept  it. 

1.  What  is  it?  What  are  its  special  merits?  How 
does  it  differ  from  what  I  have  already 
adopted  ? 

3.  Is  it  profitable?  Will  it  yield  a  definite  money 
return  through  saving  of  labor  or  material, 
increased  output,  advertising  value,  etc.? 

3.  Is  it  possible?    Can  I  make  practical  use  of  it? 

4.  Will  it  gratify  me  personally?    Will  it  add  to 

my  comfort,  luxury,  or  advance  my  ambition? 

5.  Is    there    an    alternative    more    desirable    or 

cheaper? 

6.  Shall  I  decide  favorably  now,  or  wait  a  while 

and  investigate  further? 

Upon  the  complete  and  authoritative  answering 
of  these  queries  the  solicitor  must  base  his  hope  of 
making  the  deal.  He  is  appealing  to  the  judgment 
of  the  other  party,  and  must  supply  it  with  com- 
plete data  for  arriving  at  a  decision.  His  argu- 
ments will  therefore  be  so  chosen  as  to  furnish  the 
most  convincing  evidence  along  these  lines.  Mere 
assertion  will  not  suffice. 

Effective  Suggestion. — Dr.  Scott,  in  the  book  al- 
ready quoted,  holds  "that  the  working  of  suggestion 
is  dependent  upon  the  dynamic,  impulsive  nature  of 
ideas" ;  that  if  a  clear  idea  can  be  given  a  man  it  will 


SPEAKING  IN  BUSINESS  57 

result  in  action  unless  the  way  is  blocked  by  some 
stronger  concept.  The  suggestion  must  be  vivid 
and  striking.  It  must  give  the  effect  of  the  poster 
in  speech.  It  must  be  made  with  authority.  The 
two  kinds  of  authority  to  which  men  are  the  most 
suceptible  are  the  say-so  of  friends  and  the  con- 
sensus of  public  opinion.  In  making  use  of  sugges- 
tion, the  hearer  must  be  approached  in  a  friendly, 
genial  spirit,  not  aggressively  or  patronizingly;  and 
if  the  testimony  of  popular  approval  can  be  brought 
to  bear  it  should  be  taken  full  advantage  of.  We 
constantly   meet   with   the   phrase   in   advertising: 

"Thousands  of  satisfied  customers  use  Blank's ; 

why  not  you?"  The  same  principle  can  be  used  in 
speech. 

As  previously  stated,  since  suggestion  appeals 
directly  to  the  will,  anything  tending  to  invite  com- 
parison with  alternatives  and  to  involve  the  more 
protracted  processes  of  reason  should  be  excluded. 
It  deals  with  effects,  not  causes.  In  selling  food- 
stuffs by  this  method,  the  agent  will  endeavor  to 
stir  the  pleasurable  sensations  of  a  pleased  palate 
rather  than  dilate  upon  food  values  or  economy. 
The  distinctive  feature  of  the  suggestive  method  is 
that  it  deals  with  concrete  pictures  rather  than 
reasons  why. 

Study  the  Audience. — In  an  earlier  chapter  has 
been  emphasized  the  importance  of  untiring  study 
in  acquiring  the  art  of  reading  human  nature 
quickly.  To  no  one  is  this  more  essential  than  to 
the  man  whose  livelihood  depends  upon  his  ability 


58        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

to  influence  men  in  business.  Individuals  and 
groups  differ  greatly  in  the  degree  to  which  they 
respond  to  reason  and  suggestion.  If  the  speaker 
can  read  his  audience,  whether  it  be  one  or  a  hun- 
dred persons,  he  can  judge  which  arguments  are 
likely  to  prove  most  effective.  Some  men  are  ex- 
tremely responsive  to  suggestion :  others  rarely  act 
unless  impelled  by  reason.  These  differences  can 
be  quickly  turned  to  advantage  by  the  man  who  is 
skilled  in  recognizing  them. 

The  relation  of  ps3'-chology  and  efficient  speaking 
to  the  successful  conduct  of  business  affairs  is  be- 
coming generally  recognized,  and  offers  an  inter- 
esting and  profitable  field  for  experimental  work. 


PART  n 

SPEECHES  FOR  STUDY 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CORPORATE  MANAGE- 
MENT 

CHARLES  TV.  ELIOT 

Parts  of  an  address  by  Charles  W.  Eliot,  L.L.  D..  at  the 
fifty-sixth  regular  meeting  of  the  Merchants  Club  of  Chicago, 
March  lo,  1906. 

That  this  Merchants  Club  should  ask  one  whose 
occupations  have  been  teaching  science  for  fifteen 
years  and  educational  administration  for  thirty- 
seven  years  to  address  the  club  on  the  ethics  of 
corporation  management  is  an  interesting  manifes- 
tation of  the  prodigious  change  which  has  come 
about  in  the  course  of  four  or  five  centuries — grad- 
ually until  recent  times,  but  rapidly  during  the  last 
half  century — in  regard  to  the  responsibility  of  dif- 
ferent classes  of  men  for  the  maintenance  and  diffu- 
sion of  sound  ethical  standards.  A  thousand  years 
ago  the  idea  of  sanctity  and  competency  for  ethical 
teaching  involved  seclusion  from  the  world.  The 
saint  was  an  anchorite,  a  monk,  or  a  nun.  In  fact, 
if  we  go  back  not  more  than  a  hundred  years,  the 
minister  or  priest  was  preeminently  the  teacher  of 
ethics;  so  that  it  was  the  business  of  a  profession 

59 


60        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

set  apart  from  secular  affairs  to  uphold  in  the  world 
the  standards  not  only  of  religion  but  of  natural 
piety  and  public  righteousness.  How  different  is 
the  situation  to-day!  You  and  I,  and  all  the  people 
in  this  country  whom  we  may  be  said  to  represent 
or  typify,  are  fully  persuaded  that  the  most  effective 
teachers  of  ethics  to-day  are  the  righteous  men  who 
are  active  in  all  the  secular  affairs  of  the  world — 
that  is,  in  farming,  manufacturing,  mining,  trade, 
the  professions,  and  politics.  These  are  the  men 
who,  being  righteous,  can  best  influence  the  people 
to  piety,  justice,  and  righteousness.  These  are  the 
men  who,  being  themselves  unrighteous,  may  drag 
the  people  down  towards  depravity  and  sin.  The 
recluse,  and  the  religionist  who  separates  religion 
from  conduct,  are  losing  their  hold  on  civilized 
man ;  and  the  only  ethics  that  command  respect  are 
the  ethics  that  guide  and  control  men  in  the  in- 
tensest  labors  and  struggles  of  the  actual  world. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  the  ethics  of  corporation 
management  are  in  some  respects  indeterminate, 
and  therefore  an  urgent  subject  of  public  discussion ; 
for  the  invention  of  the  business  corporation  itself 
is  hardly  more  than  fifty  years  old,  and  this  new 
creation  deals  with  forms  of  property  which  are 
highly  novel.  Indeed,  all  the  actual  forms  of  prop- 
erty except  real  estate,  mortgages,  promissory  notes, 
chattels,  and  coin,  are  novel.  It  is  hard  for  our 
generation  to  keep  in  mind  how  very  new  are  most 
of  the  actual  forms  of  property  and  all  the  present 


CORPORATE  MANAGEMENT  61 

modes  of  doing-  business.  All  the  implements  and 
methods  of  modern  industry,  with  corporation 
stocks  and  bonds,  the  universal  cheque  and  cheque- 
stub,  and  card  catalogues  and  ledgers  beside,  have 
been  created  within  the  memory  of  many  men  here 
present.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  ethics  of  modern 
business  are  not  yet  firmly  settled?  The  ethical 
conventions  gradually  agreed  upon  during  centuries 
concerning  transactions  in  the  ancient  forms  of 
property  have  had  to  be  extended  and  adapted  to 
immense  new  forms  of  property  and  new  processes 
©f  production  and  distribution.  In  making  these 
extensions  and  adaptations,  legislatures  and  courts 
are  in  arrears;  they  have  not  been  able  to  keep  up 
with  the  onward  rush  of  eager  and  adventurous 
business,  particularly  in  this  country,  where  in- 
dustrial and  commercial  enterprise  is  stimulated  by 
a  political  and  social  freedom  heretofore  unknown. 


I.  Capitalization. — There  are  usually  two  founda- 
tions for  the  capitalization  of  a  business  corporation. 
The  first  is  the  money  actually  paid  for  the  property 
or  plant;  the  second  is  the  earning  power  of  the 
plant  and  the  organization.  Both  these  foundations 
may  be  real  and  solid  at  any  given  moment,  but 
both  are  liable  to  grave  changes.  Most  plants  de- 
teriorate or  waste,  and  constantly  require  partial 
replacement.  Earning  power  may  be  unexpectedly 
either  increased  or  diminished  by  natural  causes,  or 

by  bad  management  or  fraud Most 

energetic  corporations  often  need  new  capital.    Im- 


G3        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

provements  of  the  plant  and  means  to  meet  new 
needs  are  often  so  urgently  demanded  that  the  ques- 
tion how  to  obtain  them  may  fairly  be  called  a  ques- 
tion of  life  and  death  for  the  industry  or  corpora- 
tion concerned.  One  of  the  open  secrets  of  Ameri- 
can efficiency  in  manufacturing  is  the  courage  and 
enterprise  with  which  the  American  manufacturer 
will  throw  away  his  old  machinery  in  favor  of 
better.  With  every  such  rejection  capital  is  sacri- 
ficed. The  hard-earned  savings,  it  may  be,  of  many 
years  are  suddenl}-  thrown  away,  and  instead  new 
capital  must  be  sought.  The  principles  underlying 
capitalization  are  therefore  of  continuous  interest  in 
most  industries. 

At  any  stage  of  any  corporate  business  the  ques- 
tions of  capitalization  and  over-capitalization  may 
come  up ;  and  if  new  capital  is  sought  at  a  period 
when  industries  are  active  and  the  public  is  san- 
guine, directors  or  managers  will  be  tempted  to 
over-capitalization.  For  a  corporation  doing  a 
strictly  private  business,  subject  to  competition,  and 
possessing  no  privileges  conferred  by  the  public, 
over-capitalization  in  the  form  of  over-issues  of 
bonds  and  stock  is  largely  a  question  of  the  most 
profitable  use  of  the  stock  market  in  raising  money, 
provided  that  the  real  earning  power  of  the  property 
can  be  got  at  by  inquiring  investors.  Secrecy  as 
regards  earning  power  may  give  opportunities  for 
deception  and  subsequent  disaster;  but,  if  the  whole 
situation  be  above  board,  directors  and  investors 
may  be  safely  left  to  their  own  devices  and  bargain- 


CORPORATE  MANAGEMENT  G3 

ings,     since    no    question    of    public     morality    is 
involved. 

There  are  two  aspects  of  over-capitalization  which 
demand  the  attention  of  the  public.  In  the  first 
place,  the  several  States  of  the  Union  have  power  to 
prevent  the  issue  of  stock  not  fully  paid  for  if  they 
see  fit  to  exercise  that  power.  As  a  fact,  legislation 
on  this  subject  is  not  uniform ;  and  the  States  really 
compete  with  each  other  for  the  taxes  which  may 
be  derived  from  corporations  established  within 
their  respective  borders.  The  looser  States  com- 
pete with  the  stricter  by  making  their  laws  as  little 
restrictive  for  the  corporations  as  possible,  and 
leaving  the  investing  public  to  take  care  of  itself. 
This  demoralizing  competition  is,  to  say  the  least, 
an  abandonment  by  some  States  of  their  true  posi- 
tion as  moral  teachers.  Secondl}',  over-capitaliza- 
tion is  an  evil  because  of  its  effect  on  the  state  of 
mind  of  wage-earners.  Reasonable  wage-earners 
are  content  to  have  ingenuity,  skill,  and  knowledge 
in  discovering  resources,  and  organizing  industries 
reap  a  considerable  immediate  reward  in  the  case 
of  new  undertakings ;  because  they  realize  that  the 
laboring  classes,  in  common  with  the  entire  com- 
munity, reap  advantages  from  all  successful  indus- 
trial undertakings.  But  they  are  never  willing  that 
established  industries  should  issue  either  bonds  or 
stock  which  are  not  fully  paid  for;  because  they 
believe  that  the  wage-earners  can  in  that  way  be 
comj)ellcd  for  all  time  to  earn  not  only  their  own 
wages,  l)ul  dividends  on  a  stock,  part  of  which  rep- 


64        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

resents  neither  money  invested  nor  any  contribution 
of  human  skill  and  labor.  The  alleged  over-capi- 
talization of  a  large  proportion  of  American  in- 
dustries managed  by  corporations  is  one  of  the  main 
causes  of  the  existing  industrial  unrest.  This  in- 
evitable state  of  feeling  is  a  fact  which  is  to  be 
taken  into  account  in  dealing  with  the  whole  ques- 
tion of  expedient  and  righteous  capitalization ;  be- 
cause it  intensifies  the  conflict  between  capital  and 
labor 

II.  Promotion. — The  methods  used  in  what  is 
called  promotion  give  rise  to  a  large  part  of  the 
current  criticism  on  corporation  management.  Far- 
sighted  men,  who  know  and  apply  intelligent 
methods  of  determining  the  value  of  new  resources 
in  mines,  forests,  transportation,  and  trade,  and 
who  have  also  high  business  credit  and  access  to 
concentrations  of  movable  capital,  seeing  a  chance 
to  combine  several  companies,  or  to  build  up  a  new 
company,  or  to  undertake  the  development  of  some 
new  natural  resource,  make  a  plan  to  carry  out  the 
new  undertaking,  and  oflfer  on  the  market  bonds, 
preferred  stock,  and  common  stock — often  in  blocks 
which  contain  all  three  sorts  of  securities.  The  sum 
of  the  paper  securities  often  largely  exceeds  the 
actual  cost  in  money  or  goods  of  the  real  properties 
which  underlie  the  undertaking.  This  excess  repre- 
sents the  hoped-for  reward  for  skill  in  the  discovery 
of  new  resources,  for  the  risks — sometimes  light, 
but  often  heavy — which  accompany  the  new  under- 
taking, and  for  the  credit  which  is  the  indispensable 


CORPORATE  MANAGEMENT  65 

ground  of  success  in  the  market.  If  the  advantages 
of  the  plan  are  obvious  and  the  risks  are  conse- 
quently light,  an  ordinary  commission  on  the  trans- 
actions may  be  an  adequate  reward  for  the  promo- 
tion ;  but  if  the  adventure  is  obviously  a  risky  one, 
it  is  just  that  a  large  reward  should  tempt  pro- 
moters to  take  the  risk Two  ethical 

principles  ought,  however,  to  govern  all  promoting 
schemes.  In  the  first  place,  all  representations  con- 
cerning the  immediate  or  future  value  of  tlie  bonds 
and  stocks  issued  should  be  absolutely  true  as  re- 
gards the  facts  stated,  and  moderate  and  reasonable 
as  regards  the  prospects  of  future  profit.  Secondly, 
if  years  are  going  to  be  needed  to  develop  the  new 
enterprise,  the  promoters  have  no  right  to  abandon 
the  undertaking  so  soon  as  they  have  sold  enough 
bonds  and  stock  to  give  them  an  immediate  return 
in  commissions  and  rake-ofifs The  con- 
scientious promoter  will  not  quit  the  enterprise  he 
has  promoted  until  it  is  thoroughly  on  its  feet,  and 
all  men  can  see  its  results  and  its  unquestionable 
value.  Large  enterprises  in  manufacturing,  mining, 
and  transportation  cost  a  great  deal  beside  money. 
They  call  for  imagination,  courage,  the  power  to 
forecast  events,  the  capacity  to  select  efficient 
agents,  and  credit  in  the  money  market.  All  these 
elements  of  service  are  entitled  to  their  reward. 
The  promoter,  then,  must  in  the  first  place  tell  the 
truth ;  and,  secondly,  he  must  stand  by  his  under- 
taking until  real  and  visible  value  has  been  put  into 
all  the  securities  he  issues.    As  to  the  lying,  cajoling 


6G        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

promotion,  which  aims  at  getting  the  money  of 
inexperienced  or  foolish  persons,  it  is  merely  one 
form  of  the  criminal  offence  of  obtaining  money  on 
false  pretenses.  It  ought  always  to  be  prosecuted 
by  its  victims  and  punished  by  the  courts 

III.  Directors. — Although  the  state  of  the  law  as 
to  how  far  directors  are  trustees  or  fiduciary  agents 
is  somewhat  hazy,  there  is  no  doubt  concerning 
several  principles  which  should  govern  the  conduct 
of  directors  and  determine  their  selection.  Thus, 
all  the  directors  of  a  corporation  are  under  obliga- 
tions to  give  their  personal  attention  and  vigilant 
care  to  the  business  of  the  corporation.  If  damage 
result  from  their  lack  of  care  or  inattention  to  duty, 
they  are  responsible  for  that  damage.  They  are 
responsible  not  only  for  wrong-doing  of  their  own, 
but  also  for  inattention  to  the  wrong-doing  of 
others,  and  for  failure  to  act  when  action  was 
needed.  Secondly,  the  directors  of  the  corporation 
cannot  shift  their  responsibility  on  to  sub-commit- 
tees or  officers  and  agents  appointed  by  themselves, 
or  be  in  any  way  excused  from  exercising  that  dili- 
gent supervision  which  a  prudent  man  exercises  in 
the  conduct  of  his  own  affairs.  It  follows  from  this 
principle  that  the  directors  in  any  business  corpo^ 
ration  ought  to  be  men  who  understand  the  busi- 
ness of  that  corporation  and  have  time  to  attend  to 
it.  Because  directors  should  be  experts  in  one  busi- 
ness, corporations  which  do  several  kinds  of  busi- 
ness  are   generally   to   be   distrusted 

Dummy  directors  and  figure-head  directors,  whose 


CORPORATE  MANAGEMENT  67 

names  appear  in  from  twenty  to  seventy  boards,  are 
not  directors  in  any  proper  sense  under  the  laws  as 
they  now  stand.  They  do  not  give  a  reasonable 
amount  of  time  to  the  service  of  the  corporations  in 
Avhich  they  figure,  and  obviously  they  cannot  exer- 
cise any  real  control  over  the  aflfairs  of  the  corpora- 
tions they  nominally  direct.  They  have  wrongfully 
assumed  a  trust  they  have  no  power  to  execute. 

Every  director  ought  to  have  a  pecuniary  invest- 
ment in  his  corporation  which  might  fairly  be  sup- 
posed to  give  him  a  considerable  individual  or  per- 
sonal interest  in  its  success.  He  should  not  be 
qualified  for  his  directorship  solely  by  the  transfer 
to  him  of  the  minimum  amount  of  stock  which  the 
law  requires  a  director  to  hold,  but  should  have  a 
real  interest  in  the  success  of  the  corporation,  al- 
though his  serviceableness  may  not  be  proportion- 
ate to  the  amount  of  stock  he  holds 

Directors  are  so  far  trustees  that  they  may  not 
honorably  sell  the  control  of  their  corporation, 
either  for  their  own  account  or  for  the  account  of  a 
limited  number  of  stockholders,  without  providing 
that  each  and  every  stockholder  shall  be  allowed  to 
participate  in  the  benefits  of  the  sale.  The  rights  of 
all  the  stockholders  should  be  guarded  by  their 
trustees,  the  directors,  no  matter  how  troublesome 
a  small  minority  of  stockholders  may  have  made 
themselves 

IV.  Publicity. — All  laws  which  promote  publicity 
as  to  the  management  of  corporations,  by  enforcing 
the  publication   of  clear  accounts   and   intelligible 


68        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

statements  of  the  condition  of  the  corporation,  help 
toward  the  improvement  of  the  ethics  of  corpora- 
tion management.     Three  kinds  of  corporation,  at 
least,  should  be  forced  to  publish  at  brief  intervals 
intelligible  accounts  which  reveal  the  true  state  of 
the  plant,  the  bulk  of  the  business,  the  proportion 
of  expenses  to  receipts,  the  salaries,  and  the  gain  or 
loss— though  not  all  of  them  for  quite  the   same 
reasons — investment    and    fiduciary   concerns,    like 
banks,  trust  companies,  savings  banks,  and  insur- 
ance companies ;  public  franchise  companies  in  gen- 
eral;  and  all  great  corporations  which  appeal  fre- 
quently to   the   investing  public.      On   the   whole, 
there  has  been  of  late  years  a  wise  tendency  to  leg- 
islation which  compels  publication  of  the  accounts 
of  corporations  in  which  the  public  obviously  have 
an  immediate  and  pressing  concern ;  but  there  have 
been  occasional  examples  of  laws  expressly  intended 
to  prevent  public  accounting,  or  to  prevent  directors 
being   called   to   account   for   their  acts   by   stock- 
holders or  the  public.    Thus,  the  49th  section  of  the 
general  corporation  law  of  New  Jersey  (1896)  pro- 
vides that,  "Any  corporation  formed  under  this  act 
may  purchase  mines,  manufactories  or  other  prop- 
erty necessary  for  its  business,  or  the  stock  of  any 
company  or  companies  owning,  mining,  manufactur- 
ing or  producing  materials,  or  other  property  necs- 
sary  for  its  business,  and  issue  stock  to  the  amount 
of  the  value  thereof  in  payment  therefor,  and  the 
stock   so   issued   shall   be   full-paid   stock   and   not 
liable  to  any  further  call,  neither  shall  the  holder 


CORPORATE  MANAGEMENT  09 

thereof  be  liable  for  any  further  payment  under  any 
of  the  provisions  of  this  act;  and  in  the  absence  of 
actual  fraud  in  the  transaction,  the  judgment  of  the 
directors  as  to  the  value  of  the  property  purchased 
shall  be  conclusive."  This  section  enables  an}'- 
board  of  directors,  so  disposed,  to  water  their  stock 
simply  by  declaring  that  water  or  marsh  is  solid 
ground.  They  have  only  to  declare  that  the  stock 
issued  against  their  purchases  is  full-paid.  In  gen- 
eral, secret  management  and  secret  acts  in  im- 
portant corporations  have  a  pernicious  tendency ; 
and  particularly  they  tempt  directors  to  malfeas- 
ance, and  excite  in  the  public  mind  suspicions, 
sometimes  just  and  sometimes  unjust,  but  always 
injurious.  Legislation  which  prevents  publicity 
is,  of  course,  to  be  deprecated,  in  spite  of 
its  occasional  convenience. 

In  order  that  publicity  concerning  the  manage- 
ment of  corporations  should  prove  a  remedy  for  old 
abuses  and  a  protection  against  new  ones,  there 
must  exist  a  strong  public  sentiment  against  the 
professional  and  business  men  who  assist  corpora- 
tions in  their  efforts  to  defeat  laws  intended  for  the 
protection  of  the  public,  or  to  procure  quietly  modi- 
fications of  existing  laws  in  the  interest  of  corpora- 
tions and  against  the  interest  of  the  public.  It  is 
also  important  that  a  strong  public  sentiment  should 
be  cultivated  in  support  of  public  officials  who 
refuse  to  wink  at  the  evasion  by  corporations  of 
statutes  designed  to  promote  the  pul)lic  good.  The 
foundation  of  the  l)elief  that  publicity  will  promote 


70        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

justice  and  honor  in  corporation  management  is  the 
conviction  in  the  minds  of  directors,  public  officials, 
the  business  community,  and  the  press,  that,  on  the 
whole,  the  mass  of  the  people  will  come  out  on  the 
side  of  righteousness.  Publicity  cannot  prove  a 
remedy  for  abuses,  old  or  new,  unless  the  public, 
before  which  the  facts  are  to  be  brought,  is  a  moral 
public.  The  public  opinion  which  will  reform 
abuses  and  suppress  evils  must  itself  be  an  honest 
and  strenuous  public  opinion. 

V.  Salaries. — A  great  abuse  has  of  late  years 
grown  up  in  corporations  which  do  a  large  business, 
or  hold  and  use  great  properties — namely,  the  exag- 
geration of  salaries  and  perquisites.  In  the  first 
place,  the  acceptance  of  several  salaries  from  dif- 
ferent companies  or  corporations  is  always  to  be 
distrusted,  inasmuch  as  the  underlying  supposition 
ought  to  be  that  a  man  owes  all  his  time  and 
strength  to  the  company  which  pays  him  an  ade- 
quate salary,  and  that  his  interest  should  not  be 
divided  between  different  corporations  or  different 
services.  In  the  next  place,  multiple  salaries  are 
injurious  because  they  overpay  the  recipient.  The 
huge  single  salaries  of  recent  times  also  overpay 
their  recipients.  The  excuse  for  them  has  been  that 
in  conducting  a  large  business  the  right  man  is 
cheap  at  any  price,  and  the  wrong  man  dear  at  any 
price.  The  fallacy  of  this  argument  is  that  the 
exaggerated  salary  will  not  really  get  or  keep  the 
best  man — indeed,  is  not  needed  in  order  to  get  or 
keep  him 


CORPORATE  MANAGEMENT  :i 

The  first  duty  of  a  corporation  towards  its  em- 
ployees is  to  provide  those  external  conditions 
which  will  promote  health,  cheerfulness,  and  vigor 
in  the  working  people.  The  efficiency  of  any 
large  body  of  workmen  is  greatly  promoted  by 
healthy  and  cheerful  surroundings.  What  is  nowa- 
days called  welfare  work  is  not  a  benevolence  or 
a  charity ;  it  is  simple  economy,  common  sense,  and 
common  humanity.  It  requires  some  small  expendi- 
ture on  the  part  of  a  corporation ;  but  primarily  it 
requires  considerateness  and  an  intelligent  compre- 
hension of  human  nature.  This  consideration  it  is 
the  clear  duty  of  every  corporation  to  give. 

Secondly,  every  corporation  should  endeavor  to 
secure  for  its  workmen  freedom  for  the  play  of 
individual  powers,  and  should  keep  before  every 
competent  workman  the  hope  and  expectation  of 
improving  his  lot  as  time  goes  on.  This  means 
that  the  workman  should  be  free  to  work  zealously ; 
and  it  also  means  a  scale  of  wages  which  rises  with 
the  age  of  the  workman  up  to  middle  life. 

In  the  next  place,  every  corporation  should  try 
its  best  to  procure  for  all  its  employees  steady  em- 
ployment, thereby  promoting  satisfactory  conditions 
for  family  life,  and  securing  a  resident  laboring 
population  instead  of  a  nomad  population.  A  nomad 
population  will  not  be  a  civilized  population — 
except,  indeed,  that  youth  may  safely  be  permitted 
a  few  years  of  wandering. 

Again,  every  corporation  should  study  the  means 
of   prolonging   the    earning   of   wages    beyond    the 


73        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

period  of  greatest  efficiency.  Provision  for  men 
who  have  passed  their  prime,  but  are  still  capable 
of  the  less  active  forms  of  service,  all  corporations 
will  make  that  have  quick  consciences  in  regard  to 
their  duties  to  employees,  or  intelligent  comprehen- 
sion of  their  own  interests.  Early  superannuation 
is  a  very  depressing  condition  in  any  calling. 

Further,  a  corporation  whose  business  requires 
the  handling  of  its  money  by  numerous  agents 
should  provide  all  possible  checks  and  guards 
against  dishonesty  on  the  part  of  such  employees. 
A  corporation  that  neglects  such  precautions  will 
train  thieves,  instead  of  honest  men.  That  the 
precautions  may  cost  more  than  the  thefts  they 
would  prevent  is  no  excuse  for  not  providing  them. 

No  corporation  has  a  right  to  encourage  or  con- 
nive at  any  monopoly  of  the  kind  of  labor  it  buys; 
because  the  corporation  which  yields  to  such  a 
monopoly  abridges  the  just  liberty  of  working  men, 
and  liberty  is  an  indispensable  condition  of  public 
and  private  happiness.  It  is  another  phase  of  the 
same  principle,  that  no  corporation  should  seek,  by 
force  or  indirection,  to  establish  a  monopoly  of  its 
own. 

Justice  and  promptness  in  dealing  with  com- 
plaints is  another  clear  duty  of  corporations  toward 
their  employees ;  and  so  is  generosity  in  rewarding 
valuable  suggestions  made  by  employees  concern- 
ing the  conduct  of  the  business.  The  competent 
discharge  of  these  duties  will  go  far  to  promote 
good  will  between  the  employer  and  the  employed ; 


CORPORATE  MANAGEMENT  :3 

and  a  steady  good  will  in  work  is  the  great  pro- 
moter of  efficiency  in  production,  and  of  satisfaction 
in  daily  work. 

The  responsibility  of  corporations  for  the  ethical 
training  of  their  employees  grows  heavier  and 
heavier  in  this  country  as  corporations  become 
larger  and  an  increasing  proportion  of  the  working 
people  of  the  country  is  found  in  the  service  of 
corporations.  In  a  nation  which  puts  every  young 
man  into  its  army  or  navy  for  two  or  three  years, 
the  army  and  navy  can  be  used  as  schools  of  obedi- 
ence, neatness,  politeness,  fidelity,  and  loyalty.  They 
are  so  used  in  some  measure  by  European  nations, 
though  not  adequatel}'.  In  the  United  States  the 
industrial  army  must  perform  this  function,  instead 
of  a  standing  army  and  a  nav}^ ;  and  the  armies  of 
industry  are,  on  the  whole,  much  better  fitted  for 
this  function  than  the  public  forces  trained  for  the 
savagery  of  war.  Well-managed  corporations  can 
provide  admirable  discipline  in  courtesy,  neatness, 
punctual  cooperation  and  loyalty,  if  only  they  syste- 
matically use  judicious  means  for  giving  this  ethical 
training.  To  organize  these  means  and  use  them 
habitually  require  forethought,  wisdom,  firmness, 
and  good  temper  in  corporate  management ;  and 
these  qualities  in  the  managers  should  be  sought 
for  and  paid  for.  No  corporate  expenditure  could 
possibly  be  more  productive,  from  the  business 
point  of  view,  or  more  profitable  towards  the  im- 
provement of  the  national  character.  This  is  one  of 
the    directions    in    which    corporate    management 


74        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

should  be  ethical ;  and  no  management  is  truly 
ethical  that  does  not  make  the  employees  better  and 
finer  men  and  women. 

Not  long-  ago,  at  a  public  dinner  of  the  National 
Civic  Federation,  at  which  much  had  been  said 
about  the  importance  of  industrial  peace,  I  ventured 
to  say,  near  the  close  of  the  meeting,  that  our  busi- 
ness community  certainly  wanted  peace  between 
capital  and  labor,  but  that  it  should  be  peace  with 
liberty.  I  remain  of  that  opinion,  believing  that 
liberty  with  troubled  peace  is  better  for  both  capital 
and  labor  than  untroubled  peace  without  liberty. 
How  can  both  peace  and  liberty  be  attained?  There 
is  only  one  way — through  righteousness  in  the  deal- 
ings of  man  with  man.  Truces  and  armed  neu- 
tralities may  be  brought  about  by  mutual  fear,  or 
by  the  exhaustion  of  the  combatants;  but  durable 
peace  comes  only  by  justice  or  righteousness.  When 
one  has  been  exploring  long-time  evils,  and  has 
been  trying  to  get  down  to  the  solid  foundations 
of  human  happiness,  one  is  sure  to  find  that  some 
old  Hebrew  writer  has  put  the  elemental  philosophy 
of  the  whole  subject  into  a  memorable  phrase.  The 
ethics  of  corporation  management  will,  indeed,  have 
been  brought  to  a  happy  issue  when,  as  the  Psalmist 
puts  it,  "Righteousness  and  peace  have  kissed  each 
other." 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  BUSINESS  SUCCESS 

HUGH    CHALMERS 

Extracts  from  an  address  by  Hugh  Chalmers,  president  of 
the  Chalmers  Motor  Car  Co.,  before  a  company  of  business 
men  in  Detroit.  Mich. 

The  business  man  deals  with  five  M's — money, 
materials,  machinery,  men,  and  merchandise.  It  is 
not  so  hard  to  get  money,  materials,  and  machinery. 
Each  of  these  is  a  given  quantity  and  with  each 
and  all  of  them  a  given  result  can  be  accomplished. 

The  big  thing  is  to  get  men. 

In  the  primitive  days  of  manufacturing  the  great 
question  was  one  of  production.  The  market  was 
ready,  and  we  strived  constantly  for  greater  per- 
fection. Nowadays  the  great  question  is  one  of 
distribution,  the  getting  of  things  from  where  they 
are  to  where  they  ought  to  be. 

The  two  great  factors  in  distribution  are  sales- 
manship and  advertising.  The  relationship  between 
the  two,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  closest  relationship 
it  is  possible  to  have.  It  is  closer  than  the  team 
under  a  single  yoke;  it  is  closer  than  friends;  it  is 
closer  than  brothers;  yes,  it  is  closer  than  the  rela- 
tion between  man  and  wife,  because  there  can  never 
be  a  separation  or  divorce. 

75 


76        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

Advertising  is  salesmanship,  and  salesmanship 
is  advertising.  Every  ad.  is  a  salesman,  and  every 
salesman  is  an  ad.  There  is  this  difference  :  Adver- 
tising is  salesmanship  plus  publicit}^;  salesmanship 
is  advertising  plus  getting  the  order  signed.  Ad- 
vertising creates  the  atmosphere  of  business,  and 
the  salesman  follows  and  takes  the  orders. 

It  is  hard  to  analyze  the  successful  salesman, 
but,  after  all,  the  analysis  gets  down  really  to  the 
question  of  personality. 

There  are  certain  qualities  I  have  been  asked  to 
give  here  to-night  which  I  believe  we  should  have 
in  business  to  be  successful.  We  are  all  salesmen ; 
every  man  is  trying  to  sell  his  own  good  qualities 
to  his  fellow-citizens.  That  is  why  he  puts  on  a 
clean  collar  and  a  clean  shirt  and  everything  that 
goes  with  it,  because  he  wants  to  sell  his  good 
qualities. 

The  first  essential  is  to  be  healthy,  to  have  health. 
Most  of  us  are  paid  for  having  good  livers,  but 
unfortunately  some  have  bad  ones.  There  is  nothing 
helps  a  man  so  much  as  to  take  care  of  himself. 
Most  of  us  have  injurious  habits;  we  smoke  too 
much,  we  eat  too  much,  or  we  drink  too  much;  we 
are  handicapped  in  that  way.  I  know  men  with 
good  minds,  but  their  bodies  are  not  healthy,  and 
I  would  rather  take  my  chances  with  a  healthy 
mind  in  a  healthy  body. 

The  next  quality  is  honesty.  I  do  not  refer  to  it 
in  the  baser  sense,  because  a  man  is  a  fool  nowa- 
days unless  he  is  absolutely  honest.     There  is  an 


BUSINESS  SUCCESS  77 

old  maxim,  "Honesty  is  the  best  policy."  There  is 
nothing  "best"  about  it ;  honesty  is  the  only  policy. 
Most  men  I  have  met  have  two  arms,  two  legs, 
two  eyes,  two  ears,  a  nose,  and  a  mouth,  and,  con- 
sidering their  height,  they  weigh  about  the  same. 
What  is  the  difference  in  men?  Power,  ability: 
Some  people  may  have  that  developed  more  than 
others,  but  I  say  nine-tenths,  3^es,  ninety-nine-hun- 
dredths  could  develop  ability. 

I  find  just  three  kinds  of  men  in  this  world:  The 
kind  you  tell  once  to  do  a  thing,  and  you  can  bet 
your  life  it  is  done.  The  second  class  you  have  to 
tell  four  or  five  or  a  dozen  times  to  do  it  because 
they  do  not  think.  The  third  class  is  the  great 
class  of  men  who  have  made  this  country  what  it 
is — men  with  initiative ;  men  who  do  things,  who  do 
things  before  you  have  a  chance  to  tell  them  what 
to  do.  We  must  do  things  quickly;  we  must  have 
initiative,  and  that  is  the  greatest  quality  a  man 
can  possess.  I  would  rather  have  a  man  in  my 
employ  who  could  do  six  out  of  ten  things  right 
than  a  fellow  who  did  four  things  right  and  never 
did  anything  else.  There  is  nothing  wrong  in  mak- 
ing a  mistake ;  the  only  wrong  is  in  making  the 
same  one  twice. 

Next  to  that  I  think  a  man  ought  to  have  a  thor- 
ough knowledge  of  his  business.  I  was  at  a  con- 
vention in  Berlin,  Germany,  of  two  hundred  sales- 
men. They  did  not  understand  anything  I  said  and 
I  did  not  understand  anything  they  said,  and  we  got 
along  all  right.     There  was  a  man  there  who  had 


78        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

carried  off  the  banner  of  four  successive  years,  and 
as  we  were  distributing  the  prizes  I  said  to  him : 
"Mr.  Hoffman,  will  you  tell  the  men  why  you  have 
been  leader  for  four  years  in  succession?"  He  could 
not  have  given  a  better  answer  than  he  gave.  He 
said:  "Gentlemen,  I  defy  anybody  in  Germany  to 
ask  a  question  about  my  business  I  cannot  answer." 
That  was  the  secret  of  his  success ;  he  knew  his 
business. 

Another  quality  we  need  is  tact.  Tact !  What  is 
tact?  That  ability — although  it  is  rare — that  en- 
ables one  man  to  deal  with  other  men  of  different 
temperaments  in  the  right  way  and  get  along  with 
all  of  them.  Some  people  mistake  tact  for  "jolly." 
Tact  is  not  so  much  what  a  man  says,  but  how  he 
says  it.  You  men  who  are  writing  letters  to  travel- 
ing men  and  other  people — those  hot  words  you 
dictate  become  cold  type  when  received.  A  man 
gets  exactly  what  you  say  and  reads  it  that  way. 
Let  us  be  careful  about  the  letters  we  write ;  let  us 
develop  this  quality  of  tact. 

The  next  thing  we  ought  to  have  is  industry;  the 
man  you  always  find  on  the  job,  who  does  a  good 
day's  work — but  it  is  unnecessary  to  talk  to  western 
men  about  work,  because  it  is  the  western  man  who 
occupies  the  highest  positions  in  New  York,  Boston, 
and  other  eastern  centers,  for  if  you  will  investigate 
you  will  find  western  men  in  seven-tenths  of  those 
positions,  because  they  were  taught  to  work  in  the 
west,  and  they  carried  that  quality  with  them  to  the 
east. 


BUSINESS  SUCCESS  79 

Now,  then,  sincerity  is  a  quality  we  ought  to 
possess.  Next  to  being  honest  and  able,  we  ought 
to  be  sincere  men.  Sincerity  is  that  quality  which 
not  only  makes  friends,  but  holds  them.  A  man 
cannot  be  insincere  without  injury  to  himself. 
Whether  you  are  talking  to  one  man  or  a  thousand, 
whether  you  are  talking  to  me  or  to  a  customer, 
you  are  throwing  thoughts  to  his  brain ;  you  can- 
not see  them,  but  they  are  tangible,  and  you  can- 
not throw  insincere  thoughts  to  the  brain  and  not 
have  the  brain  catch  insincere  thoughts.  No  more 
than  I  could  throw  this  glass  to  you  and  you  catch 
a  pitcher.  It  is  not  changed  or  transformed :  it 
comes  to  you  in  the  way  it  leaves  me.  So  I  say  we 
must  perfect  this  quality  of  sincerity  if  we  are  to 
attain  success.  You  know  men  in  whom  you  abso- 
lutely believe  because  they  are  sincere.  You  say 
you  like  a  man  you  can  believe  in  because  he  can 
sell  the  goods.  Insincerity  has  taken  some  orders, 
but  it  has  never  held  a  job. 

We  should  be  willing  to  ask  for  and  receive  sug- 
gestions. The  man  who  knows  it  all  is  like  the 
fellow  standing  on  the  street  with  the  fool-killer 
waiting  just  around  the  corner.  None  of  us  know 
it  all.  We  might  be  up  to  date  at  6  o'clock,  but 
unless  we  are  up  to  date  right  now  we  don't  know 
it  all.  I  have  made  it  a  rule  to  be  willing  to  accept 
suggestions,  and  I  would  as  soon  be  stopped  in 
the  hall  by  the  janitor  as  by  the  general  manager, 
because  the  chances  are  ten  to  one  that  the  janitor 


80        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

knows  more  about  the  business   he  wants  to  talk 
about  than  the  general  manager. 

In  addition  to  all  of  these  things  mentioned,  a 
man  must  have  enthusiasm.  Unless  he  has  enthu- 
siasm he  is  a  mere  statue.  Because  enthusiasm  is 
the  white  heat  that  fuses  all  of  these  qualities  into 
one  effective  mass.  I  would  not  give  a  cent  for  a 
man  without  enthusiasm.  If  a  man  has  no  enthu- 
siasm he  is  no  good.  If  you  ever  get  enough  money 
so  you  could  do  so  you  don't  want  to  retire.  Men 
who  retire  from  business  do  not  live  as  long  as 
those  who  do  not.  What  we  want  to  do  is  to  have 
our  business  in  such  shape  that  we  can  get  some 
pleasure  and  play  out  of  it  as  well  as  work.  Let  us 
enjoy  our  work,  and  let  us  alternate  business  and 
pleasure.  We  must  keep  up  enthusiasm  if  we  want 
to  keep  out  of  a  rut.  The  only  difference  between 
a  rut  and  a  grave  is  in  the  width  and  the  depth. 
We  graduate  from  one  to  the  other. 


THE  UNKNOWN  QUANTITIES 

M.  T.   FRISBIE 

Excerpts  from  an  address  delivered  before  the  Poor  Richard 
Club  of  Philadelphia,  April  7,  lyio,  by  M.  T.  Frisbie,  adver- 
tising manager  L.  C.  Smith  &  Bros.  Tj'pewriter  Co.,  of  Syra- 
cuse, N.  Y. 

A  story  is  told  of  how  Sir  Walter  Besant  once 
accepted  an  invitation  to  speak  at  a  meeting  in 
London  upon  "The  Secret  of  Success  in  Fiction 
Writing."  Among  the  platform  committee  was 
James  Payn,  the  canny  vScotch  story  writer  and 
critic. 

Just  as  Sir  W^alter  rose  to  his  feet,  prepared  to 
initiate  his  audience  into  all  the  mysteries  of  his 
profession,  he  felt  a  tug  at  his  coat  tails.  Looking 
around,  he  beheld  Payn,  pale  but  determined. 

"What  is  it.  Jimmy?"  he  asked. 

"For  God's  sake.  Walter,  you're  not  going  to  tell 
them  how  we  do  it?" 

Now,  don't  any  of  you  go  pulling  at  my  coat 
tails,  for  Fm  not  presumptuous  enough  to  think  I 
can  unfold  to  you  the  hidden  secret  of  success  in 
advertising 

The  Unknown  Quantities  in  advertising,  about 
which  I  shall  speak,  would,  if  advertising  were  an 
exact  science,  soon  be  resolved — through  equation, 

81 


82        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

proportion,  and  elimination — into  tangible,  estimable 
factors. 

But  advertising  being,  as  yet,  not  a  science — only 
an  art — we  are  obliged  to  cut  and  try,  to  feel  our 
way,  to  follow  our  intuitions,  and  then  thank  our 
lucky  stars,  if,  after  spending  the  last  dollar  of  our 
Iiard-wrung  appropriation,  we  find  ourselves  within 
a  thousand  miles  of  the  goal. 

Some  day,  when  the  psychologists  and  the  black- 
smiths, the  fifty-thousand  dollar  copy-men,  and  the 
circulation-affidavit  makers  have  all  completed  their 
perfect  work,  there  may  be  a  "Science  and  Art  of 
Advertising"  that  can  be  mastered  by  the  student 
in  college,  or  by  the  hard-working  mechanic  who 
takes  his  dose  of  correspondence  school,  after  he  has 
washed  up,  at  home,  evenings. 

But  don't  worry,  for  what  happens  then  will  not 
interest  us. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  these  unknown 
quantities,  because  it  is  vital  to  many  of  us  adver- 
tisers, is  the  value  of  our  general  publicity. 

Now,  in  its  application  to  a  particular  business, 
can  its  actual  worth  be  determined?  Ability  to 
estimate  this  value  accurately  would  be  of  untold 
importance.      Must  it  always  go  unmeasured — un- 

reckoned  ? 

Within  the  past  few  months  national  advertisers 
have  been  asked  by  magazine  publishers  for  data 
relative  to  the  number  of  replies,  under  first-class 
postage,    received    from    advertisements    in    given 


THE  UNKNOWN  QUANTITIES  83 

issues  of  their  publications.  Many  were  unable  to 
make  a  definite  statement. 

What  is  the  value  of  your  publicity  advertising 
in  any  given  newspaper  or  magazine?  Can  you 
answer? 

Yet,  without  some  means  of  judging  this  value, 
satisfactory  at  least  to  us,  what  Avarrant  have  you 
and  I  to  continue  spending  our  firms'  money  for 
such  publicity? 

We  cannot  even  fall  back  on  the  theory  that  all 
advertising,  like  whiskey,  is  good  advertising,  but 
some  is  better,  for  we  are  painfully  aware  that  not 
all  advertising  is  good,  and  some  is  worse. 

Still  we  go  on  burning  the  midnight  oil  to  pro- 
duce our  general  publicity  copy  and  blindly  trust, 
as  Tennyson  puts  it : 

"That,  somehow,  good 
Will  be  the  final  goal  of  ill." 

And  in  the  faith  that  this  confidence  is  not  en- 
tirely misplaced,  we  find  great  comfort  and  con- 
solation. 

A  case  in  point. 

When  the  Smith  Brothers  withdrew  from  the 
Union  Typewriter  Company,  built  a  factory  and 
produced  a  new  high-grade  writing  machine  in 
record  time — a  record,  by  the  way,  that  yet  stands — 
it  became  the  duty  of  your  speaker  to  break  the 
news  to  the  public. 

Now  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  the  dear  public  was 
lying  awake  o'  nights  in  its  anxiety  to  hear  that  a 
promising  youngster  had  been  added  to  the  type- 
writer family.    But  this  is  what  happened  : 


84        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

A  full  page  display,  rather  clumsily  put  together 
(in  fact,  it  got  more  than  a  page  roast  on  the  griddle 
of  Judicious  Advertising),  appeared  in  three 
monthly  magazines,  of  national  importance,  with 
corresponding  space  in  two  national  weeklies, 
simply  announcing  the  fact  that  L.  C.  Smith  & 
Bros,  were  now  making  typewriters,  but  couldn't, 
as  yet,  fill  orders  at  all  rapidly. 

And  this  item  of  general  publicity  was  productive 
of  replies  at  a  cost  of  less  than  seventy-five  cents 
apiece — a  result  that  has  not  since  been  duplicated, 
and  probably  never  will  be  duplicated  in  the  history 
of  the  business. 

This  phenomenally  low  inquiry-cost  was  prob- 
ably partially  due  to  an  information  campaign, 
which,  by  means  of  an  extensive  mailing-list,  had 
been  conducted  for  several  months  prior  to  the 
final  announcement.  The  campaign  consisted  of  a 
series  of  news  articles  in  Syracuse  papers,  often 
illustrated  by  cuts  showing  the  progress  of  work, 
and  designed  to  keep  up  public  interest. 

But  these  by  themselves  had  not  served  to  bring 
the  replies  in  such  a  flood.     It  was  the  publicity 

announcement  that  turned  the  trick 

Having  settled  the  matter  of  mediums  to  the  best 
of  our  ability,  there  is  one  thing  we  can  do  to 
increase  the  value  of  our  General  Publicity  Adver- 
tising, and  that  is  to  make  it  alive,  instructive — 
vitally  instinct  with  the  merits  of  our  goods. 

"Pears  Soap."  That  was  the  original  form  of 
pure  publicity — just  "Pears  Soap"  in  big  type  and  a 


THE  UNKNOWN  QUANTITIES  85 

loud  voice.  "Have  You  Used  Pears  Soap?"  came 
next.  That  was  better.  But  after  a  hundred  years 
of  this  conservative  form  of  advertising  we  begin 

occasionally  to  see  "Use  Pears  Soap,  because " 

and  that  is  the  best  of  all. 

For  there  is  no  good  argument  why  pure  pub- 
licity copy  should  not  also  be  reason-why  copy — in 
fact,  the  argument  is  all  the  other  way,  provided 
the  reason  is  so  briefly  set  forth  that  he  who  runs 
may  read,  and  so  pertinently  that  the  quality  or 
peculiarity  which  constitutes  the  reason  may  be 
identified  in  the  mind's  eye  with  the  product  itself. 
"It  floats"  and  "99f/  pure,"  from  the  Proctor  & 
Gamble  copy,  are  examples 

Another  Unknown  Quantity,  with  which  we  pur- 
chasers of  advertising  space  have  almost  daily  to 
deal,  lies  hidden  in  the  claims  which  publishers 
make  or  decline  to  make  regarding  circulation. 

Those  of  you  who  buy  space  are  familiar  with 
the  two  kinds  of  solicitors.  One,  who  says,  in  a 
confidential  whisper: 

"You  know  what  these  big  circulation  claims 
amount  to — figured  before  the  newsdealers'  're- 
turns' are  in.  But  'Canned  Brains'  isn't  a  news  stand 
publication.  It  has  a  gilt-edged  subscription  list 
and  goes  paid-in-advance  direct  to  the  homes  of 
just  the  kind  of  people  who  can  afiford  to  buy  your 
."    Well,  I  see  you  have  heard  the  rest  of  it. 

Then  in  comes  the  next  solicitor  with  a  swagger 
and  a  copy  of  the  "Big  Noise"  under  his  arm. 

"How  does  that  strike  you?"  he  asks,  in  a  voice 


86         EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

that  carries  to  the  next  block,  "Red  last  month, 
blue  this,  purple  next.  See  it  on  the  stand  a  block 
away.  More  full  pages  of  advertising-  than  any 
other  one  of  the  Big  Six.  Circulation  gaining  at 
the  rate  of  a  thousand  a  day." 

You  are  properly  impressed,  but  venture  to  in- 
quire w^hat  the  circulation  is. 

"Eook  at  our  rate.  A  dollar  a  page  per  thousand 
copies  actually  printed  and  distributed — figure  it 
yourself." 

Now,  as  this  rate  has  consistenly  held  at,  let  us 
say  $500.00,  year  in  and  year  out,  in  times  of  plenty 
and  through  the  lean  years  as  well,  and  as  that 
seems  to  be  the  only  consistent  thing  about  it  (no, 
I  am  naming  no  names,  and  I  don't  mean  the  maga- 
zine you  think,  anyway),  you  are  inclined  to  wonder, 
as  between  your  whispering  friend  and  your  noisy 
one,  which,   if  either,   is   entitled  to   full   credence. 


Personally  I  am  much  inclined  to  be  nearly  as 
gun-shy  of  both  these  classes  of  solicitors  as  I  am 
of  one  who  says  : 

"We  won't  open  our  books  to  every  Tom,  Dick, 
and  Plarry,  who  use  only  an  inch  or  so  of  our 
space  each  month,  but  if  you  want  any  specific 
information,  our  entire  office  is  at  your  disposal." 

Of  course  that  sounds  well,  and  is  flattering  to  a 
degree.  But  suppose  you  were  in  the  small  adver- 
tiser's place.  Wouldn't  you,  too,  want  to  know  what 
you  were  buying  with  your  money  ? 

What  is  the  answer? 


THE  UXKNOWN  QUANTITIES  87 

It  is  for  advertisers  to  find  out. 

Does  it  lie  in  making  all  contracts  with  a  rebate 
clause?  A\'e  got  back  a  nice  bunch  of  dollars  from 
Collier's  last  year  because  their  circulation  didn't 
quite  average  up  to  the  figure  on  which  their  adver- 
tising rate  was  based.  I  don't  know  just  how  much 
that  policy  cost  Collier's,  but  when  their  solicitor 
comes  in  he  gets  one  of  the  cigars  that  I  keep  in  the 
far  pigeon-hole. 

Be  not  misled  by  circulation  claims,  but  put  your 
trust  in  the  vigorous  character  of  the  publication 
that  has  a  policy  and  stands  for  something — not 
your  policy,  perhaps — but,  nevertheless,  an  earnest 
appeal  to  a  living  constituency. 

And  right  along  with  this  circulation  problem 
comes  the  allied  problem  of  duplication 

I  have  some  doubt  as  to  the  advantage  of  dupli- 
cation, particularly  when  uniform  copy  is  used. 

Of  course  its  supporters  will  quote  the  proverb, 
"A  continual  dropping  wears  away  the  stone,"  but 
I  can  reply  with  the  assertion  by  another  author — 
the  foremost  advertiser  of  his  age  and  time — "A 
continual  dropping  of  a  very  rainy  day  and  a  con- 
tentious woman  are  alike."  And  who  will  say  that 
Solomon  was  not  well  qualified  to  make  the  com- 
parison?     

This  subject  is  one  that  will  bear  looking  into 
by  the  advertiser  who  is  obliged  to  make  his  appro- 
priation last  as  long  and  go  as  far  as  possible. 

Mahin's  carefully  computed  tables  give  the  total 
number  of  families  in  the  United  States  with  an 


88        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

income  of  more  tfian  $900.00  a  year  as  less  than  six 
and  a  quarter  millions. 

With  incomes  of  $1,200.00  a  year  and  over,  iCss 
than  four  and  a  quarter  million  families. 

With  incomes  of  $3,000.00  and  over,  only  976,000 
families. 

Now,  taking  an  expensive  automobile  proposi- 
tion, for  instance,  the  possible  appeal  must  be  posi- 
tively limited  to  less  than  one  million  families  with 
only  a  small  percentage  of  that  number  as  probable 
purchasers. 

With  million  and  half-million  claimed  circula- 
tions, numerous  as  they  are  to-day,  what  must  be 
the  waste  in  bird-shot  of  the  automobile  advertiser 
who  uses,  let  us  say,  one  of  the  big  weeklies  with 
its  million  more  or  less,  four  leading  monthlies 
(over  a  million),  and  enough  of  the  smaller  ones  to 
aggregate  at  least  a  million  more? 

Yet  the  automobile  manufacturer  prospers — and 
so  for  a  time  under  similar  prodigality  did  the 
bicycle  manufacturer  back  in  the  nineties 

The  figures  of  the  last  census  show  in  round  num- 
bers seventeen  and  one-half  million  families  in  the 
United  States.  A  circulation  of  one  million  means 
one  family  in  every  seventeen.  Subtract  the  day- 
laborer,  the  negro,  the  foreign-speaking,  and  the 
illiterate  classes,  and  a  million  circulation  means 
reaching  about  one  family  in  ten 

But  with  the  magazine  reading  public  limited  to 
about  ten  million  families  and  the  combined  circu- 
lation of  the   standard   and   unstandard   magazines 


THE  UNKNOWN  QUANTITIES  89 

amounting  to — whatever  it  may — tell  me,  if  you  can, 
how  the  advertiser  who  uses  "all  the  big  ones"  is 
going  to  avoid  a  very  serious  problem  in  duplica- 
tion. 

I  will  give  you  the  benefit  of  one  of  our  own 
experiences.  Like  many  another  valuable  idea,  we 
stumbled  upon  it  while  in  search  of  something  else. 

We  were  using  vertical  half-pages,  on  twelve- 
time  order,  and  getting  outside  lefthand  position 
(when  we  could),  but  felt  we  were  not  making  as 
much  of  a  splash  as  we  wanted  to.  All  this  oc- 
curred at  a  time  when  there  was  little  chance  for 
an  increased  appropriation.  I  asked  in  my  good 
friend,  Harry  Porter,  of  the  Frank  Presbrey  Com- 
pany, for  a  conference,  and  we  determined  to  use 
three-fourths-page  space,  which  would  give  us  more 
room  for  display,  and  run  the  copy  fewer  times, 
but  alternatively,  in  the  various  publications,  so 
that  we  should  still  have  a  certain  amount  of  repre- 
sentation each  month. 

In  "staggering"  our  list,  we  endeavored  to  ar- 
range a  schedule  for  the  alternate  appearances  of 
our  copy  with  the  least  possible  disadvantage.  For 
instance.  Everybody's  and  Cosmopolitan  were  off- 
set ;  McClure's  and  American ;  Collier's  and  Satur- 
day Evening  Post,  and  so  on  down  the  line. 

Thus  we  turned  to  our  advantage  the  inevitable 
duplication  of  mediums  of  a  certain  class,  slightly 
enlarged  our  list,  obtained  greater  space  for  dis- 
play, and,  though  this  may  sound  paradoxical,  were 
given   reason   to   believe,   both   from   inquiries   re- 


90         EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

ceived  and  general  business  done  (our  only  means 
of  judging),  that  we  had  not  failed  to  reach  as 
many  interested  readers  as  under  the  old  plan  when 
our  advertisement  appeared  every  month  in  each 
publication. 

I  know  this  sort  of  talk  will  be  considered  treason 
by  the  publishers,  but  the  facts  are  as  I  have 
stated.  It  has  been  suggested  to  me  that  this 
course  might  not  be  advisable  for  a  concern  just 
beginning  to  advertise.  That  is  possibly  true,  but 
in  our  case  the  result  seems  to  have  been  more  ex- 
tensive publicity  and  more  effective  publicity  at  no 
greater  cost 

The  agency  representative  assures  us  that  "the 
big  ones  are  the  best  pullers,"  and  if  our  line  was 
one  that  appealed,  like  an  article  of  diet,  to  all 
humanity,  we  could  not  controvert  his  statement. 
But  when  we  ask  him,  "Shall  we,  then,  select  one 
medium  of  mammoth  circulation  and  expend  our 
entire  appropriation  in  a  series  of  two-page  spreads 
therein?"  he  hesitates. 

Why? 

Because  he  knows  and  realizes  also  that  we 
know  the  utter  uselessness  of  attempting  to  in- 
terest in  typewriters  in  any  way  more  than  a 
quarter  of  the  readers  of  the  big  popular  mediums, 
and  that  consequently  three-quarters  of  our  appro- 
priation would,  in  such  a  case,  be  spent  in  purchas- 
ing at  the  highest  rate  publicity  of  a  character  which 
could  benefit  us  only  by  the  most  remote  possibility. 

What  can  we  as  advertisers  do,  then?     We  are 


THE  UNKNOWN  QUANTITIES  91. 

obliged  to  hedge,  make  additions  to  the  list  of  a 
bunch  of  purely  class  mediums,  every  one  of  whose 
readers  may  be  a  possible  purchaser. 

From  which  do  we  get  the  greater  returns  in 
proportion  to  the  money  spent? 

It  is  possible  that  advertisers  will  be  forced  to 
seek,  and  may  perhaps  find,  their  remedy  in  the  use 
of  a  judiciously  selected  list  of  class  periodicals 
of  lesser  circulation  but  more  certain  appeal  to 
probable  users  of  their  particular  lines. 

In  what  has  been  said  I  have  endeavored  merely 
to  state  some  of  the  difficult  problems  that  con- 
front us  as  advertising  men.  I  will  not  presume  to 
offer  a  solution.  But  they  are  problems  that  each 
of  us  must  wrestle  with  in  his  own  way  and,  out 
of  his  own  hard  experience,  establish  a  working 
hypothesis  that  will  suffice  until  advertising,  as  a 
science,  has  made  further  progress. 


COMPARATIVE  ADVERTISING  METHODS- 
EAST  AND  WEST 

HUGH     A.     o'dOXNELL 

Excerpts  from  an  address  by  Mr.  Hugh  A.  O'Donnell,  busi- 
ness manager  "The  Philadelphia  Press,"  delivered  at  the 
Poor  Richard  Club  House,  Philadelphia,  Thursday,  March 
3.  1910. 

A\'hatever  I  have  to  say  regarding  the  compara- 
tive newspaper  advertising  values  of  the  East  and 
West  must  naturally  be  the  result  of  first  impres- 
sion, and  I  run  the  risk  of  being  seriously  inac- 
curate. However,  your  city  and  people  and  news- 
papers have  proven  exceedingly  interesting  to  me 
and  the  outsider's  point  of  view  may  appeal  to  you 
as  clarifying  if  not  informative.  At  any  rate,  it  is 
sincere 

Advertising  is  both  an  art  and  a  science,  and  it  is 
the  art  part  that  makes  it  an  undefined  science. 
There  is  just  as  much  personal  element  in  adver- 
tising as  there  is  in  salesmanship.  Indeed,  adver- 
tising in  the  usual  sense  is  nothing  more  than  sales- 
manship on  paper  addressed  to  a  composite  cus- 
tomer. It  is  an  individual  proposition  in  its  prin- 
ciples, and  that  is  why  experience  is  its  only  teacher, 
unless  it  happens  to  be  an  intuition  like  any  other 
talent.      Nine-tenths  of  all   talk  on   advertising  is 

93 


9i        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

futile  because  it  is  necessarily  so  general  it  is  not 
applicable  to  more  than  one  advertiser.  We  all 
grant  publicity  is  the  key  to  commercial  success, 
but  there  are  as  many  keys  as  there  are  successes, 
and  there  is  no  passkey  of  pviblicity  to  it.  Each 
merchant  must  make  his  own,  and  he  must  keep 
ever  trying  and  making  and  changing  until  he  has 
made  one  that  fits  best  his  door  to  success.  He 
alone  can  tell  when  he  has  done  it,  though  he  can't 
be  always  certain  as  to  just  how  he  did  it.  It's  the 
trjnng  that  hurts  and  costs  and  teaches. 

Contrary  to  the  usual  analysis,  there  is  undoubt- 
edly more  money  wasted  in  advertising  than  in 
any  other  investment,  since  it  is  the  first  and  chief 
item  of  expense  in  nearly  all  business  promotions. 
Under  modern  development  there  is  expended  on 
advertising  over  $800,000,000  annually.  It  has  made 
the  luxuries  of  yesterday  the  necessities  of  to-day. 
Operating  on  well-established  psychological  laws, 
it  has  become  the  great  positive,  creative  force  in 
business.  It  makes  men  want  things  never  before 
deemed  necessary  to  their  happiness  or  content- 
ment. And  so  it  is,  advertising  that  pays  must  at- 
tract attention,  then  convince,  then  persuade,  and 
it  is  just  that  system  of  creating  desire  that  has 
made  tAvo  blades  of  grass  grow  in  the  business  world 
where  only  one  grew  before.  There  is  no  good  in 
unknown  good.  The  man  who  knows  most  can 
accomplish  most.  Advertising  knowledge  is  mostly 
a  knowledge  of  people.  All  mediums  of  publicity 
are  merely  the  channels  through  which  advertising 


ADVERTISING  METHODS  95 

flows.  The  message  delivered  is  the  real  advertis- 
ing. And  it  must  be  applied  to  be  other  than 
theory.  "You  can  learn  to  make  chemical  analysis 
from  books  and  experiments;  you  can  measure  the 
distance  to  Jupiter  and  weigh  the  water  in  the 
ocean  by  methematics  ;  but  there  is  something  about 
folks  which  is  beyond  figures."  It  is  the  reaching 
out  of  the  human  to  the  human.  Sometimes  it's 
the  little  things  that  count.  Colgate  says  his  talcum 
powder  is  so  good  it  can't  be  improved.  He,  there- 
fore, advertises  the  improved  box.  A  railroad  ad- 
vertises that  its  passenger  trains  start  and  stop 
without  jar  or  jolt.  All  things  equal,  a  small  point 
will  turn  trade.     To  tell  these  little  things  cost  big 

money,  but  it  is  worth  it 

It  is  the  same  kind  of  word  of  mouth  advertising 
backed  b}'  the  usual  printed  statements  that  is  the 
acme  of  great  publicity.  One  pleased  customer  will 
tell  ten  and  thus  sales  are  perpetuated,  business 
built  and  trade-marks  made  worth  millions.  And 
yet  there  is  nothing  cheaper  than  good  advertising. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  circulation  of  a  Philadelphia 
paper.  There  are  probably  50,000  out  of  165,000 
readers  who  can  spend  an  average  of  $200  a  year  in 
each  of  twenty-five  stores  in  town.  That  means  a 
quarter  of  a  billion  dollars,  and  yet  for  $10  you  can 
buy  fifty  lines  of  space  in  that  paper.  That  means 
casting  bread  on  the  water  and  having  it  come  back 
buttered.  You  can  chuck  into  fifty  lines  a  message 
of  probably  200  words  to  165, 000  possible  buyers. 
That  is  a  good  many  patrons  to  address,  and  in 


9G        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

200  words,  well  chosen,  much  can  be  said  to  the 
point.  The  whole  story  of  the  creation  was  told  in 
less  than  four  times  that  many. 

It  is  difficult  to  compare  Chicago  and  Philadel- 
phia in  regard  to  newspapers.  Conditions  are  so 
different.     ..... 

There  is  nothing  free  in  Chicago.  The  largest 
user  of  display  space  pays  just  as  promptly  for  the 
smallest  classified  ad.  as  you  do  for  the  collar  you 
buy  from  the  clothier  after  you  have  purchased  a 
suit  of  clothes  from  him.  No  one  ever  asks  the 
newspaper  for  a  free  reading  notice  out  there.  The 
newspapers  used  to  write-up  State  Street  stores  at 
Christmas  time,  photographing  the  windows,  etc., 
but  the  merchants  themselves  asked  to  have  it 
stopped.  While  they  admitted  Marshall  Field  was 
the  leading  mercantile  house  of  the  city,  there  was 
always  a  disagreement  as  to  who  was  second.  If 
Mandels  was  named  second,  the  others  were  dis- 
pleased; and  if  Carson,  Pirie,  Scott  was  mentioned 
second  in  order,  Mandels  felt  slighted;  and  if  any 
cheap  store  was  mentioned  on  the  same  page  with 
Charles  A.  Stevens  &  Bros,  that  exclusive  house 
became  incensed.  They  all  could  be  best  pleased 
by  pleasing  no  single  one.  And  that  is  good  judg- 
ment. The  reporter  sent  out  to  review  the  store 
openings  in  the  spring  will  use  the  same  adjective 
superlative  for  the  cheapest  as  well  as  the  most 
exclusive  store,  and  as  these  articles  are  run  side 
by  side  it  becomes  ludicrous  from  the  merchant's 
standpoint,  a  prostitutional   pander  on   the   news- 


ADVERTISING  METHODS  97 

paper's  part  and  an  insult  to  the  reader.  Besides, 
on  the  basis  that  business  is  business,  why,  for  in- 
stance, should  a  merchant  think  he  should  have 
free  at  times  what  sells  for,  say  $1.00  a  line,  simply 
because  he  buys  space  at  20  cents  a  line?  The 
woman  who  buys  a  half-dollar's  worth  of  cheap 
candy  doesn't  expect  a  $2.00  box  of  bon-bons  thrown 
in  because  of  the  50-cent  cash  purchase.  And  the 
merchant  who  pays  a  higher  rate  than  the  minimum 
because  he  doesn't  buy  enough  space  to  earn  the 
lower  rate  surely  has  less  right.  I  think  the  day 
will  come  when  an  honest  newspaper  will  refuse  to 
sell  its  news  columns  at  any  price  on  the  same  basis 
as  it  protects  its  editorial  integrity  to-day. 

And  then  as  to  position.  There  is  a  sort  of  fight 
for  the  back  page  of  the  papers  in  Chicago,  but  that 
is  given  on  the  basis  of  the  quantity  of  space  bought 
any  one  day.  It  is  a  contest  among  the  merchants 
themselves,  and  one  of  them  will  use  ten  to  twelve 
columns  in  order  to  l)e  sure  of  having  seven  of  them 
go  on  the  back  page.  But  no  favor  is  asked  of  the 
newspaper.  Indeed,  it  is  not  easy  to  buy  position, 
as  the  newspaper  justly  argues  that  one  position  is 
good  as  another  in  a  fair  medium,  and  it  does  not 
wish  to  be  hampered  because  of  a  few  dollars  in  the 
proper  making  of  the  schedule.  A  newspaper's  first 
duty  is  to  its  subscribers,  and  nothing  should  be 
done  even  in  the  unbalanced  arrangement  of  a  paper 
that  might  ofi'end  their  sense  of  beauty.  That  the 
back  page  is  valuable  in  an  evening  paper  on  the 
supposition   that   it   is   mostly   read   on   street  cars 


98        EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

will  not  bear  analysis  and  certainly  does  not  war- 
rant the  effort  made  to  get  it  by  the  advertiser.  This 
is  doubly  true  of  morning  papers,  which  go  directly 
into  the  homes. 

As  for  the  Chicago  Daily  News,  its  independence 
is  so  extreme,  despite  the  fact  it  charges  extra  for 
position,  electros  and  illustrations — it  closes  its  clas- 
sified columns  almost  twenty-four  hours  before  pub- 
lication, and  as  for  display  advertisements,  first 
come,  first  served,  and  nothing  guaranteed.  I  know 
a  State  Street  store  that  argued  for  three  hours 
one  night  trying  to  get  the  Daily  News  to  guarantee 
its  full  page  ad.  would  appear  in  the  next  evening's 
edition.  The  rules  governing  such  promises  were 
so  rigid  nothing  could  be  done  until  Mr.  Lawson, 
the  owner,  was  reached  at  a  club  late  in  the  night. 
The  Daily  News  rate  is  the  highest  in  Chicago, 
but  its  circulation  reads  its  advertisements  and  the 
returns  therefrom  make  it  the  cheapest  investment 
for  the  merchant. 

All  concessions  there  in  regard  to  free  readers, 
position,  etc.,  are  considered  equivalent  to  a  cut  of 
rate,  and  the  newspaper  which  doesn't  rigidly 
adhere  to  its  rate  card  has  a  severe  case  of  heart 
trouble  that  may  prove  fatal  any  time.  The  rate 
card  is  the  bible  of  the  newspaper  business,  and 
when  you  deviate  from  it  you  are  getting  away 
from  revealed  religion.  Every  advertiser  should  be 
privileged  to  the  same  rate  as  any  other  advertiser 
on  the  same  conditions. 

Good  will  is  the  real  asset  of  any  first-class  paper, 


ADVERTISING  METHODS  '.39 

and  no  newspaper  is  justified  in  doing  anything  to 
discount  its  integrity.  The  success  of  a  paper  is 
1)uilt  on  the  confidence  of  its  readers,  and  respect- 
able and  conscientious  publishers  endeavor  to  ac- 
cept only  such  advertising  as  they  can  indorse  to 
the  subscriber.  It  is  doubtful  if  the  following  of 
such  ideals  is  appreciated.  A  clergyman  in  Min- 
neapolis switched  his  advertising  to  a  competing 
newspaper  because  he  didn't  consider  enough  edi- 
torial notice  had  been  given  his  lectures  by  the 
newspaper  which  had  thrown  out  $25,000  worth  of 
objectionable  advertising.  Virtue  is  not  always  re- 
warded. 

In  one  year  the  Chicago  Tribune  refused  $80,000 
worth  of  questionable  advertising.  At  another  time, 
for  eighteen  months,  the  same  paper  refused  $40,000 
worth  of  advertising  from  a  merchant  who  insisted 
on  preferred  position  at  the  expense  of  his  com- 
petitors— although  his  business  was  running  in  the 
other  Chicago  papers  during  that  time. 

You  know  circulation  value  really  means  quan- 
tity and  quality  added  together  and  divided  by 
two.  The  answer  is  the  average,  and  the  higher  it 
is  the  more  productive  the  circulation.  Chicago 
emphasizes  quality — not  in  the  "class"  sense,  but 
circulation,  which  reaches  the  best  people  of  all 
classes,  whether  those  engaged  in  trades  or  in 
finance.  Ten  men  with  only  a  dollar  a  piece  can 
only  buy  the  bare  necessities  of  life,  but  a  single 
man  with  a  ten-dollar  Iv!!!  has  more  purchasing 
power  than  the  ten  men  in  the  aggregate  because 


100      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

he  is  in  the  position  to  buy  the  comforts  of  life 
which  make  profitable  merchandise.  The  Chicago 
Tribune  refuses  to  state  its  circulation,  declaring 
space  is  sold  on  a  basis  of  the  selling  power  of  a 
newspaper.  It  is  unsound  and  unwise,  they  claim, 
to  buy  space  on  "so  much  per  thousand  of  circu- 
lation," because  the  circtilation  of  one  newspaper 
may  include  the  wastrels  and  derelicts  of  society 
and  that  of  another  paper  may  be  among  the  ear- 
nest, honest,  saving  people  in  every  walk  of  life. 
Personally,  I  think  the  argument  is  settled  when  the 
qualit}'  of  circulation  is  well  established  and  the 
quantity  is  published  at  the  top  of  the  editorial  page 
every  day.  In  the  constantly  reiterated  statement 
of  the  amount  of  circulation  and  nothing  else  made 
b}^  newspapers  deficient  in  selling  power  is  found 
the  only  plausible  reason  for  inducing  advertisers 
to  spend  "money  in  large  sums  for  space  in  thin 
sheets."  After  all,  in  the  final  analysis,  a  news- 
paper has  only  one  kind  of  merchandise  to  sell,  and 
that  is  news — general  news — the  history  of  the 
day — and  merchandise  news  or  advertising.  The 
newspaper  having  the  most  real  news  of  the  right 
sort  will  attract  the  most  readers  of  discrimination 
and  quality  and,  therefore,  the  reader  is  the  only 
one  who  counts.  A  newspaper  which  becomes  a 
misnomer  and  tries  to  feed  the  advertiser  by  free 
publicity  instead  of  being  the  advertiser's  feeder, 
reminds  me  of  the  old  negro  down  South  who  was 
taken  sick.  A  nurse  put  a  fever  thermometer  under 
his    tongue.      The    doctor    called    later    and    said : 


ADVERTISING  METHODS  101 

"Howd^^  Mose.  How  are  you  feeling?"  "Ah'm 
feelin'  a  sight  better,  sah,"  said  the  negro.  ''Have 
you  had  any  nourishment,"  said  the  physician? 
"Yes,  sah,"  said  the  darke3%  "a.  lady  came  in  heah 
an'  give  me  a  piece  of  glass  to  suck."  It  is  a  sort 
of  a  "compliments  of  the  season"  proposition  as  de- 
livered by  Pat.  "Sure,"  said  Patrick,  rubbing  his 
hands  with  delight  at  the  prospects  of  a  Christmas 
box.  "I  always  mane  to  do  me  duty."  "I  believe 
you,"  replied  his  employer,  "and  therefore  I  shall 
make  you  a  present  of  all  you  have  stolen  from  me 
during-  the  year."  "Thank  ye',  yur  honor,"  replied 
Pat,  "and  may  all  your  friends  and  acquaintances 
trate  you  as  liberally." 

While  Philadelphia  merchants  may  seem  least  dis- 
posed to  promptly  act  on  business  facts  compared 
with  the  Westerner  and  appear  to  lean  towards  sen- 
timent, tradition  and  impression,  yet  there  is  seem- 
ingly more  intimacy  between  them  and  the  news- 
papers than  anywhere  on  earth.  The  papers  here 
give  the  merchant  more  cooperation  in  free  pub- 
licity, cuts,  drawings,  etc.,  than  can  be  gotten  else- 
where, and  the  merchants  seem  to  generously  re- 
ciprocate. 

Philadelphia  was  the  first  city  in  America  to  have 
and  develop  great  newspapers.  Practically  every 
first-class  newspaper  in  the  United  States  buys  its 
Sunday  Woman's  and  Color  Sections  from  the 
Philadelphia  papers.  There  is  scarcely  an  adver- 
tising writer  in  the  land  who  is  not  keen  to  study 
and   learn    from   the   newspaper  advertisements   of 


102      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

John  Wanamaker.  Strawl)ridge  &  Clothier  and  Gim- 
bel  Brothers.  Philadelphia  has  more  newspapers 
of  a  higher  average  of  excellence  than  any  city  East 
or  West.  This  city  sets  the  standard  of  newspaper 
values  everywhere  for  what  is  best  in  the  business 
of  journalism.  It  is  the  hub  of  the  universe  in  the 
newspaper  line.  There  are  better  advertising  writers 
and  more  big  users  of  newspaper  space  in  Phila- 
delphia through  the  great  department  stores  than 
anywhere  in  America,  and  that  m.eans  the  world. 
There  is  not  one  Chicago  merchant  who  runs  a 
page  every  week  day  in  the  year  in  any  newspaper 
there.  New  York  is  scarcely  any  better  off.  But 
here  there  are  three  or  four  merchants  running  a 
daily  page  in  as  many  different  newspapers.  It  is 
without  a  parallel. 

I  grant  there  is  no  place  on  earth  where  display 
rates  are  as  low.  considering  results,  as  in  Phila- 
delphia. And  fifteen  cents  a  line  is  cheap  classified 
space.  But  competition  is  closer  here  than  else- 
where, and  the  papers  themselves  are  of  almost 
equal  merit.  But  no  city  in  America,  population 
considered,  compares  with  Philadelphia  in  the  num- 
ber and  capacity  of  its  enterprising  stores.  Those 
stores  have  made  possible  great  newspapers,  and 
the  newspapers  in  return  have  created  and  devel- 
oped those  immense  commercial  institutions.  And 
Philadelphia,  the  city  of  readers,  thinkers  and  doers, 
has  become  celebrated  for  the  energy  of  its  mer- 
chants and  the  enterprise  of  its  newspapers  and  just 
loyalty — makes  it  sacrilegious  to  take  the  name  of 
any  other  city  in  vain  for  comparison. 


VANADIUM   STEELS 

LOUIS  BUADFORD 

A  speech  by  an  engineering  student  in  the  class  of  extem- 
poraneous speaking  at   Swarthmore   College. 

If  a  piece  of  steel  is  repeatedly  loaded  to  a  point 
somewhere  near  the  elastic  limit,  it  is  found  that 
failure  eventually  occurs.  The  load  causing  rup- 
ture under  these  conditions  is  found  to  be  much 
less  than  that  which  the  steel  could  support  if  it 
had  been  applied  only  once.  It  is,  indeed,  usually 
less  than  the  load  required  to  give  the  specimen  a 
permanent  set.  This  phenomenon  is  known  to  en- 
gineers as  the  "Fatigue  of  Metals,"  and  is  one  of  the 
most  difficult  problems  the  designer  has  to  face. 
The'  effect  of  fatigue  is  very  noticeable  in  auto- 
mobile races.  Machines  frequently  have  to  with- 
draw from  the  race  owing  to  the  crank-shaft,  axle, 
or  other  essential  member  having  broken. 

All  these  parts  are  designed  with  liberal  factors 
of  safety  and  with  ordinary  usage  would  have  lasted 
indefinitely.  The  repeated  application  of  the  sudden 
stress  incidental  to  racing,  however,  causes  failure, 
although  these  stresses  are  within  the  elastic  limit 
of  the  material.  The  effect  of  these  failures  on  the 
design  of  machines  is  that  dimensions  of  parts  sub- 
ject to  repeated   loading,   whether  shock  or  other- 

103 


104      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

wise,  have  become  excessive  and  greatly  increase 
the  cost  and  weight  of  the  machine. 

Fatigue  of  metals  is  caused  by  the  fact  that  a  metal 
is  not  homogeneous.  Steel,  for  instance,  is  com- 
posed of  crystals,  some  comparatively  weak,  others 
comparatively  strong.  When  a  load  comes  upon  a 
section  the  weakest  crystals  fail  partially  along  its 
cleavage  planes.  Complete  failure  does  not  occur. 
If  the  load  is  repeated,  the  parts  of  the  weakened 
crystal  move  still  more,  along  its  cleavage  planes. 
If  loading  is  continued,  the  crystal  finally  fails  com- 
pletely, and  the  stress  it  formerly  carried  is  thrown 
upon  the  other  crystals  of  the  section.  The  weakest 
of  the  remaining  crystals  fails  next,  and  so  on  until 
complete  rupture  of  the  piece  is  afifected.  This  is 
called  the  theory  of  molecular  disintegration. 

If  steel  were  a  perfectly  homogeneous  substance, 
fatigue  would  be  unknown.  In  searching  for  a 
remedy,  therefore,  we  must  first  find  out  what  con- 
tributes to  the  lack  of  homogeneity.  Sulphur  and 
phosphorus,  present  in  the  form  of  sulphides  and 
phosphides  of  iron,  exert  a  great  weakening  efifect 
on  the  iron,  and  may,  therefore,  be  set  down  as 
exerting  a  great  influence  on  the  fatigue  of  steel. 
Iron  oxide  also  has  a  weakening  efifect.  Any 
element  that  will  take  the  above  constituents  out  of 
the  steel  will  contribute  to  the  ability  of  steel  to 
resist   fatigue.      Vanadium   is   that   element. 

When  vanadium  is  added  to  a  melt  of  steel,  the 
first  thing  that  happens  is  that  the  sulphur,  phos- 
phorus, and  oxygen  in  combination  with  the  iron 


VANADIUM  STEELS  105 

leave  the  iron  and  combine  with  the  vanadium, 
their  affinity  for  vanadium  being  greater  than  their 
affinity  for  iron.  A  slag  is  formed,  which  is  easily 
separated  from  the  remaining  steel.  The  steel  re- 
sulting has  been  found  to  offer  a  remarkable  re- 
sistance to  fatigue.  In  actual  test  a  piece  of  carbon 
steel  withstood  100  alternations  of  stress,  while  a 
piece  of  vanadium  steel  withstood  215  alternations, 
thus  showing  the  beneficial  effect  of  vanadium. 

The  introduction  of  vanadium  steels  makes  it 
possible  to  design  members  subject  to  shock  and 
repeated  loadings  with  reasonable  factors  of  safety 
with  a  reasonable  certainty  that  the  member  will 
stand  up.  The  manufacturer  who  makes  his  crank- 
shafts and  axles  of  vanadium  steel  can  make  them 
smaller  and  more  cheaply  than  can  his  rival  who 
uses  the  older  carbon  or  nickle  steels.  He  can  also 
design  the  parts  with  more  certainty  and  make  his 
product  comparatively  free  from  the  mysterious  fail- 
ures that  have  been  the  bugbear  of  users  of  ordi- 
narv  steels. 


THE  NECESSITY  FOR  ADEQUATE  RAIL- 
WAY REVENUES 

MARTIX    A.    KN^APP 

An  address  by  Martin  A.  Knapp,  chairman  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission,  at  the  annual  dinner  of  the 
Railway  Business  Association,  in  New  York,  November 
22.  1910. 

The  question  of  railroad  rates ;  that  is  to  say,  of 
railroad  revenues,  involves  vastly  more  than  the 
direct  interest  of  shippers  or  shareholders.  In  a 
very  real  sense,  in  a  sense  which  is  fortunately 
coming  to  be  better  understood,  it  is  a  great  ques- 
tion of  national  policy  second  to  none  in  its  economic 
importance.  Speaking  only  for  myself,  and  without 
reference  to  the  pending  controversy  over  rate  ad- 
vances or  any  other  concrete  instance,  I  suggest 
three  aspects  of  this  question  which  are  of  imme- 
diate and  intense  public  concern.  If  our  country  is 
to  grow  and  prosper  as  it  ought,  if  its  untold  re- 
sources are  to  be  developed  and  its  swelling  num- 
bers find  profitable  employment,  we  need  and  must 
have  railway  earnings  sufficient  for  three  things: 

1st.  A  return  on  railway  investments  of  such 
amount  and  so  well  assured  as  to  attract  and  secure 
the  necessary  capital — an  enormous  sum  in  the 
aggregate — to  improve  existing  roads  and  to  con- 

107 


108      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

struct  without  delay  thousands  of  miles  of  new 
lines  in  fruitful  districts  now  destitute  of  any  means 
of  transportation.  It  is  a  matter  of  common  knowl- 
edge that  the  output  of  traffic  for  the  fiscal  year 
1907  exceeded  our  entire  carrying-  capacity  on  land 
and  water.  With  the  rapid  increase  of  population 
and  of  productive  efficiency ;  that  is,  with  a  greater 
army  of  workers  and  better  industrial  organization, 
the  volume  of  that  year  ought  to  be  and  will  be 
nearly  doubled  in  another  decade  if  only  we  can 
provide  for  its  prompt  and  proper  distribution.  And 
when  we  think  of  the  rich  regions  yet  unopened 
because  unserved,  when  we  recall,  for  example,  that 
there  is  to-day  in  the  old  State  of  Maine  a  section 
larger  than  the  whole  of  Massachusetts  in  which 
there  is  not  a  rod  of  railroad,  must  we  not  be  im- 
pressed with  a  realization  of  pressing  need  and  of 
boundless  opportunity !  vSince  it  is  our  national 
policy — and  long  will  be,  I  trust — to  rely  upon 
private  capital  and  private  enterprise  to  provide 
these  great  highways  of  commerce,  to  improve  and 
multiply  them  in  pace  with  our  requirements,  must 
we  not  in  the  larger  public  interest,  whatever  may 
be  thought  by  this  or  that  shipper,  make  the  busi- 
ness of  furnishing  railroad  transportation,  which 
shall  be  up  to  the  best  standard  of  efficiency,  con- 
venience, and  safety,  so  desirable  to  the  investor 
that  the  necessary  funds  for  betterments  and  exten- 
sions will  be  forthcoming,  and  so  attractive  as  a 
vocation  that  the  highest  ability  will  be  employed 
in  its  management?    Otherwise,  if  unhappily  this  is 


RAILWAY    REVENUES  109 

not  done,  must  not  our  country  come  measurably 
to  a  standstill  and  face  a  future  of  comparative  stag- 
nation? 

2d.  The  payment  of  liberal  wages  to  an  adequate 
number  of  competent  men.  This  not  only  to  insure 
increasing  skill  and  reliability  in  a  service  which  is 
all  the  while  becoming  more  exacting,  and  on  which 
the  safety  and  comfort  of  the  public  constantly  de- 
pend, but  also  because  of  the  very  great  influence 
of  railway  wages  upon  the  compensation  of  labor 
in  every  sphere  and  grade  of  private  employment. 
To  my  mind  the  fundamental  social  problem  is  to 
provide,  by  the  wise  development  of  our  institutions 
and  without  radical  action  or  injustice,  for  a  more 
equable  diffusion  of  the  bountiful  wealth  which  the 
earth  produces.  Now,  as  a  large  and  increasing 
majority  of  the  able  bodied  live,  and  must  live, 
by  working  for  others  in  some  capacity,  a  high  and 
advancing  standard  of  payment  for  service  of  every 
sort  tends  strongly  to  promote,  and  is  the  best 
practical  means  to  bring  about  that  degree  of 
equality  in  social  welfare  which  makes  for  the  satis- 
faction and  happiness  of  all  our  people. 

3d.  The  betterment  of  existing  lines  so  as  to 
greatly  augment  their  serviceableness  to  the  public, 
as  can  in  varying  degree  be  done  everywhere,  with- 
out unnecessary  and  undesirable  increase  in  capi- 
talization. Every  dollar  borrowed  to  improve  a 
road  now  in  operation  involves  a  permanent  addi- 
tion to  the  interest  charge  which  the  public  is  re- 
quired to  pay ;  the  improvement  from  current  earn- 


no      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

ings  puts  no  lien  upon  the  property  but  rather  aug- 
ments its  value  and  usefulness,  and  by  adding  to  the 
security  of  the  capital  already  invested  tends  to  a 
lower  rate  of  interest  upon  that  capital.  Broadly 
speaking,  this  means  a  national  policy,  so  to  speak, 
in  respect  of  railroad  rates  and  revenues  in  harmony 
Avith  our  national  policy  in  other  matters  of  public 
concern,  and  in  accordance  with  that  enlarging 
spirit  of  altruism  which  manifests  itself  in  public,  as 
well  as  in  private  life,  and  which  impels  the  present 
assumption  of  burdens  that  might  be  escaped  or 
deferred  in  order  that  another  generation  may  have 
an  easier  task  and  a  larger  opportunity.  Is  it  not 
in  this  particular  field  a  wise  and  patriotic  policy? 


HOURS  OF  SERVICE  OF  RAILWAY 
EMPLOYEES 

ROBERT  ]Nr.   LA   FOLLETTE 

Remarks  of  Robert  M.  La  Follette  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  during  the  discussion  of  a  bill  to  regulate  the 
liours  of  service,  June,  1906. 

Mr.  President,  if  there  is  an  aroused  public  senti- 
ment for  legislative  action  at  this  time,  it  is  because 
the  pitblic  interest  has  been  so  long  neglected. 

The  righteous  appeals  of  the  railway  employees 
have  been  ignored  and  denied. 

For  nearly  twenty-five  years  they  have  pra3^ed  for 
legislation  to  protect  them  against  the  negligence 
of  the  railway  companies.  The  railway  service  is 
under  the  severest  discipline.  Employees  are  com- 
pelled to  serve  with  the  men  the  company  hires. 
They  cannot  choose  their  associates.  To  offer  any 
objection  is  to  invite  discharge.  They  suffer  loss  of 
life  and  limb  in  that  service  through  the  careless- 
ness of  co-employees  and  the  negligence  of  the  rail- 
way companies. 

For  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  they  sought 
relief  from  Congress  in  vain.  Is  it  to  be  marveled 
that  the  public  is  awakening  to  a  sense  of  the  wrong 
it  has  suffered?  Shall  its  persistent  and  perfectly 
fair  and  reasonable  demand  for  just  legislation  be 
rebuked  as  clamor  and  disease? 

Ill 


112      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

Every  country  in  the  world  has  recognized  the 
demand  for  legislation  that  will  make  the  employer 
respond  in  damages  for  the  carelessness  of  the  com- 
pany and  negligence  or  carelessness  of  the  co- 
employee  through  whom  an  employee  of  the 
company  receives  injury.  Yet  the  railroad  em- 
ployees of  this  country  suffered  without  remedy 
until  the  present  session,  when  a  reasonably  good 
bill  passed  this  Congress,  after  a  protracted  struggle 
to  defeat  it. 

So  with  the  present  bill.  The  railway  employees 
have  asked  again  and  again  for  legislation  placing 
a  reasonable  limit  upon  the  number  of  hours  of  con- 
tinued service  beyond  which  they  shall  not  be  re- 
quired to  run  trains.  It  is  argued  here  that  it  can 
be  left  to  contract  between  the  railway  companies 
and  their  employees.  Every  man  who  is  at  all 
familiar  with  the  relations  existing  between  railway 
employees  and  the  companies  knows  perfectly  well 
that  whenever  an  engineer  is  called  to  take  out  his 
engine,  whenever  the  call  is  made  upon  the  train 
crew,  no  matter  whether  they  have  been  on  duty 
to  the  limit  of  human  endurance,  with  scarcely  an 
hour's  rest,  thev  must  respond  to  that  call.  They 
cannot  argue  the  matter  with  the  railroad  company. 
They  cannot  refuse  to  go  out. 

Of  course  they  will  not  be  discharged  at  once  for 
such  refusal.  That  would  be  a  violation  of  the 
contract.  But  the  refusal  is  noted  on  the  record 
of  such  employee  by  the  train  dispatcher.  Within  a 
month  or  two,  for  some  reason  that  cannot  be  con- 


RAILWAY   EMPLOYEES  113 

strued  to  be  a  violation  of  the  contract  entered  into 
between  the  employee  and  the  railroad  company, 
the  employee  finds  himself  dismissed  from  the  ser- 
vices, and  dismissed  under  conditons  that  will  not 
admit  of  his  procuring  employment  with  other 
companies. 

The  service  of  the  railroad  companies  is  in  many 
respects  a  most  difficult  one.  It  is  hazardous.  It  is 
a  service  in  which  the  public  is  profoundly  inter- 
ested. This  legislation  is  demanded  because  it  is 
just  to  a  faithful,  intelligent,  and  courageous  army 
of  men  and  reasonable  in  its  terms. 

Furthermore,  it  is  demanded  because  the  public 
is  deeply  interested.  It  is  vital  to  all  who  travel 
that  the  men  who  operate  the  railway  trains  of  this 
country  are  in  the  best  physical  and  mental  condi- 
tion. With  scarcely  an  exception,  every  afternoon 
as  the  hands  of  the  clock  point  to  the  hour  of  five, 
some  Senator  rises  to  entreat  those  in  charge  of 
legislation  for  an  adjournment.  They  find  them- 
selves weary  and  exhausted  with  their  attendance 
upon  the  session  for  a  scant  five  hours.  The  Record 
is  full  of  the  complaints  of  Senators  that  they  have 
been  required  to  sit  here  through  half  the  day. 

Think  of  the  engineer  who  takes  out  an  engine 
at  midnight  for  his  long  run.  His  employment  may 
not  be  so  exacting  as  that  of  Senators  on  this  floor, 
but  the  alertness  demanded,  the  concentration  of  all 
his  faculties,  is  what  wears  upon  the  man.  That 
engineer  sits  with  hand  on  lever  and  throttle  peering 
ahead,  with  all  the  faculties  of  his  mind  and  all  the 


lU       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

powers  of  his  being  concentrated  on  the  safe  con- 
duct of  that  train  to  its  destination.  He  has  not 
only  the  strain  which  comes  of  nervous  tension,  of 
a  constant  apprehension  of  danger,  but  he  has  the 
weariness  which  comes  with  physical  taxation.  So 
with  the  fireman ;  so  with  the  conductors.  When 
those  men  have  been  on  duty  continuously  for  six- 
teen hours,  how  can  any  Senator  argue  that  the  law 
ought  not  fix  a  limitation  beyond  which  they  shall 
not  be  required  to  serve? 

There  has  been  no  session  of  Congress  for  many 
years  when  this  subject  has  not  been  earnestly 
pressed  upon  those  charged  with  the  responsibility 
of  legislation.  It  is  idle,  it  is  belittling,  for  Sena- 
tors to  rise  now,  after  having  occupied  the  time  of 
the  Senate  in  various  ways  for  the  last  few  days, 
in  order  to  prevent  the  consideration  of  this  bill, 
with  a  pretense  that  here  is  a  new  proposition  for 
the  consideration  of  Congress.  Why,  sir,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  in  every  message,  I  think, 
since  he  came  to  that  high  office  has  recommended 
this  legislation  to  Congress. 

I  read  to  the  Senate  two  or  three  days  ago,  when 
this  matter  was  under  debate,  a  few  words  from  the 
messages  of  President  Roosevelt.  In  view  of  the 
character  of  the  discussion  here  to-night  I  will  re- 
peat them  now,  because,  if  action  upon  this  bill  is 
prevented  at  this  session  of  Congress,  I  shall  do 
what  I  can  here  to-night  to  impress  upon  the 
country  that  it  is  in  the  face  of  the  recommendation 
of   the   Interstate   Commerce    Commission,   of   the 


RAILWAY   EMPLOYEES  li:> 

recommendation  of  the  Industrial  Commission,  of 
the  appeals  of  railway  employees  of  this  country, 
whose  petitions  come  from  194  of  the  largest  brother- 
hoods of  locomotive  engineers  in  the  country,  which 
lie  upon  the  table  of  the  Senate,  and  of  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
who  authorized  me  to-day  to  say  on  this  floor  that 
it  was  his  earnest  hope  that  the  Senate  would  take 
action  upon  this  bill,  which  is  so  reasonable  in  the 
limitations  which  it  purposes  to  impose  upon  the 
railroads  of  the  country. 

In  his  message  to  the  third  session  of  the  Fifty- 
eighth  Congress,  the  President  said  : 

I  would  also  point  out  to  the  Congress  the 
urgent  need  of  legislation  in  the  interest  of  the 
public  safety,  limiting  the  hours  of  labor  for 
railroad  employees  in  train  service  upon  railroads 
engaged  in  interstate  commerce. 

In  his  message  to  this  Congress,  nothing  having 
been  done  by  the  Congress  pursuant  to  the  message 
from  which  I  have  just  quoted,  he  repeated  the 
recommendation,  and  emphasized  it  in  the  following 
language : 

The  excessive  hours  of  labor  to  which  rail- 
road employees  in  train  service  are  in  many  cases 
subjected  is  also  a  matter  which  may  well  en- 
gage the   serious  attention  of  the  Congress. 

To  some  of  the  Senators,  Mr.  President,  who  have 
been  participating  in  this  discussion  to-night,  who 
have  proclaimed  from  this  fl(ior  to  the  country  that 


116      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

they  have  heard  no  demand  for  this  legislation,  I 
commend  these  words  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States : 

The  strain,  both  mental  and  physical,  upon 
those  who  are  engaged  in  the  movement  and 
operation  of  railroad  trains  under  modern  con- 
ditions is  perhaps  greater  than  that  which  exists 
in  any  other  industry,  and  if  there  are  any  rea- 
sons for  limiting  by  law  the  hours  of  labor  in 
any  employment,  they  certainly  apply  with 
peculiar  force  to  the  employment  of  those  upon 
whose  vigilance  and  alertness  in  the  perform- 
ance of  their  duties  the  safety  of  all  who  travel 
by  rail  depends. 

Mr.  President,  I  want  to  suggest  to  those,  who  for 
many  days  have  interposed  every  possible  objection 
to  a  vote  upon  this  bill,  that  in  so  doing  they  are 
assuming  a  grave  responsibility.  Scarcely  a  sun 
rises  on  this  country  that  it  does  not  witness  some 
accident  due  to  the  fact  that  the  railroad  employees 
have  been  overtaxed  in  their  service.  If  this  legis- 
lation is  to  be  withheld  from  the  statute  books  at 
this  session  by  methods  such  as  have  been  employed 
here  to  defeat  it,  those  who  have  engaged  in  that 
business  will  have  to  assume  the  responsibility  for 
whatever  casualties  may  befall  the  traveling  public 
and  the  railway  employees  of  this  country  which 
the  passage  of  this  bill  might  have  served  to  prevent. 


THE  RAILWAY  RATE  BILL 

ROBERT  M,  LA  FOLLETTE 

A  Speech  by  Robert  M.  La  Follette  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  during  the  discussion  of  the  railway  rate  bill 
in  April,  1906. 

Sir,  this  extended  review  of  the  evidence  of  in- 
creasing rates  and  vicious  discrimination,  of  the 
methods  of  railroad  building,  overcapitalization,  and 
reckless  speculation,  demonstrates  the  necessity  of 
the  valuation  of  railroad  property  as  an  indispen- 
sable basis  for  securing  to  the  people  of  this  country 
just  and  reasonable  rates.  Before  this  bill  becomes 
a  law  I  trust  that  the  amendment  which  I  shall 
ofifer,  or  some  better  one,  will  be  incorporated,  mak- 
ing full  and  complete  provision  at  an  early  date  for 
the  true  valuation  of  all  the  railroad  property  of  the 
United  States. 

I  cannot  refrain  from  suggesting  that  the  rail- 
roads of  this  country  can  no  longer  afford  to  oppose 
this  valuation.  It  is  best  for  them  that  it  should 
be  known.  They  contend  that  their  railroads  are 
worth  the  amount  for  which  they  are  capitalized. 
The  public  contends  that  the  capitalization  is 
grossly  in  excess  of  the  fair  value  and  not  a  law- 
ful basis  for  taxing  transportation.  This  great  issue 
between  the  public  and  the  railroads  can  be  juggled 

IT7 


118      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

with  no  longer.  It  cannot  be  settled  by  legislation 
which  palliates  the  wrong.  It  must  be  settled  by 
getting  the  true  value,  the  fair  value  of  railway 
propert}'.  If  there  is  to  be  an  end  of  antagonism 
and  dissention  between  the  people  and  the  transpor- 
tation companies,  it  can  be  found,  sir,  in  no  other 
way. 

Mr.  President,  when  it  is  remembered  that  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  is  the  only  tribu- 
nal that  stands  between  the  railroads  and  the  public  ; 
when  it  is  considered  that  the  power  conferred  upon 
the  Commission  is  the  power  of  Congress  itself; 
that  the  Commission  really  represents  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  and  when  we  test  the 
bill  before  us  by  the  obligation  of  Congress  to 
guard  in  full  measure  the  public  interest  with  all 
the  sovereign  power  of  the  Federal  Government, 
does  not  the  proposed  law  seem  to  fall  short  of  a 
just  and  comprehensive  treatment  of  a  great  sub- 
ject of  legislation? 

I  would  not  be  unfair.  The  bill  is  not  bad  in  its 
provisions,  but  weak  because  of  its  omissions.  I 
do  not  believe  that  the  bill  is  framed  to  meet  the 
demands  of  "special  interests."  Nor  has  any  broad 
consideration  of  public  interest  dominated  its  con- 
struction. 

It  has  neither  ill  intent  nor  high  purpose.  Expedi- 
ency seems  to  have  been  the  controlling  factor  in 
framing  it. 

It  seems  a  response  to  the  impelling  necessity  for 
some  legislation. 


RAILWAY   RATE   BILL  119 

It  is  probably  just  to  the  members  of  the  com- 
mittee who  joined  in  reporting  this  bill  to  the  Senate 
to  say  that  it  is  their  measure  of  the  willingness  of 
Congress  to  legislate  on  the  subject ;  that  it  is  as 
strong  a  bill  as  they  believe  could  pass  the  Senate. 
But  if  this  bill  is  not  amended  to  meet  the  public 
need,  if  it  should  pass  without  being  strengthened 
and  improved,  so  as  to  make  it  a  basis  upon  which 
to  build  substantially  in  the  future,  then  it  may  as 
well  be  understood  now  that  it  will  not  quiet  public 
interest  nor  prevent  further  demands.  It  will  be- 
come the  issue  of  a  new  campaign,  more  certain, 
more  definite,  and  more  specific  than  ever  before. 

This  session  of  Congress  will  be  but  the  prelimi- 
nary skirmish  of  the  great  contest  to  follow.  On 
the  day  that  it  is  known  that  only  the  smallest  pos- 
sible measure  of  relief  has  been  granted  the  move- 
ment will  begin  anew  all  over  the  country  for  a 
larger  concession  to  public  right.  That  movement 
unll  not  stop  until  it  is  completely  successful.  The 
only  basis  upon  which  it  can  be  settled  finally  in  a 
free  country  is  a  control  of  the  public-service  corpo- 
rations broad  enough,  strong  enough,  and  strict  enough 
to  insure  justice  and  equality  to  all  American 
citizens. 

Why  pursue  a  shortsighted,  temporizing  course? 
Is  it  not  worse  than  folly  to  believe  that  a  country 
like  ours,  with  all  its  glorious  traditions,  will  sur- 
render in  this  war  for  industrial  independence? 

Mr.  President,  the  people  of  this  generation  have 
witnessed  a  revolution   which   has  changed  the  in- 


120      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

dustrial  and  commercial  life  of  a  nation.  They  have 
seen  the  business  system  of  a  century  battered 
down,  in  violation  of  State  and  Federal  statutes,  and 
another  builded  on  its  ruins. 

They  know  exactly  what  has  happened  and  why 
it  has  happened. 

The  farmer  knows  that  there  is  no  open,  free 
competitive  market  for  anything  he  may  produce 
upon  his  farm.  He  knows  that  he  must  accept  the 
prices  arbitrarily  fixed  by  the  beef  trust  and  the 
elevator  combination.  Pie  knows  that  both  of  these 
organizations  have  been  given  control  of  the  mar- 
kets by  the  railroads. 

The  independent  manufacturer  knows  that  he  no 
longer  has  an  open  field  and  a  fairly  competitive 
chance  to  market  his  product  against  the  trust,  with 
its  railroad  interests. 

The  consumer  knows  that  his  prices  are  made  for 
him  by  those  who  control  the  avenues  of  trade  and 
the  highways  of  commerce.  The  public  has  suf- 
fered much.     It  demands  relief. 

Mr.  President,  Senators  in  this  discussion  have 
avowed  that  they  were  not  to  be  influenced  by 
popular  clamor;  that  they  have  no  sympathy  with 
bigotry  that  is  blind  to  great  railway  enterprise  and 
the  value  of  the  services  which  these  corporations 
render  to  the  public.  It  has  been  denounced  as 
meddlesome  interference  for  anyone  to  question  the 
right  of  the  railways  to  fix  the  markets  of  this 
country  and  to  control  the  destination  of  its  com- 
merce.   Public  discussion  in  support  of  this  legisla- 


RAILWAY  RATE  BILL  121 

tion  is  rebuked  as  "noisy  declamation,"  and  we  are 
advised  that  public  opinion  should  be  scorned;  that 
it  is  as  shifting  as  the  sands  of  the  sea. 

It  has  been  suggested  by  the  Senator  from  Massa- 
chusetts [Mr.  Lodge]  that  we  might  safely,  from 
time  to  time,  adopt  "certain  loose  and  general  propo- 
sitions" in  the  form  of  harmless  resolutions,  "which 
thunder  in  the  index,  and  show  that  we  are  prop- 
erly aroused  to  the  dangers  arising  from  corpora- 
tions generally  and  from  railroads  in  particular, 
and  which  do  not  commit  us  to  any  specific  legisla- 
tion." 

Sir,  I  respect  public  opinion.  I  do  not  fear  it.  I 
do  not  hold  it  in  contempt.  The  public  judgment 
of  this  great  country  forms  slowly.  It  is  intelligent. 
No  body  of  men  in  this  country  is  superior  to  it.  In 
a  representative  democracy  the  common  judgment 
of  the  majority  must  find  expression  in  the  law  of 
the  land.  To  deny  this  is  to  repudiate  the  principles 
upon  which  representative  democracy  is  founded. 

It  is  not  prejudice  nor  clamor  which  is  pressing 
this  subject  upon  the  attention  of  this  body.  It  is  a 
calm,  well-considered  public  judgment.  It  is  born 
of  conviction — not  passion — and  it  were  wise  for  us 
to  give  it  heed. 

The  public  has  reasoned  out  its  case.  For  more 
than  a  generation  of  time  it  has  wrought  upon  this 
great  question  with  heart  and  brain  in  its  daily  con- 
tact with  the  great  railway  corporations.  It  has 
mastered  all  the  facts.  It  is  just.  It  is  honest.  It 
is  rational.     It  respects  property  rights.     It  well 


122       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

knows  that  its  own  industrial  and  commercial  pros- 
perity would  suffer  and  decline  if  the  railroads  were 
wronged,  their  capital  impaired,  their  profits  un- 
justly diminished. 

But  the  public  refuses  longer  to  recognize  this 
subject  as  one  which  the  railroads  alone  have  the 
right  to  pass  upon.  It  declines  longer  to  approach 
it  with  awe.  It  no  longer  regards  the  railroad 
schedule  as  a  mystery.  It  understands  the  mean- 
ing of  rebates  and  "concessions,"  the  evasions 
through  "purchasing  agents"  and  false  weights,  the 
subterfuge  of  "damage  claims,"  the  significance  of 
"switching  charges,"  "midnight  tariffs,"  "milling  in 
transit,"  "tap-line  allowances,"  "underbilling,"  and 
"demurrage  charges."  It  compreliends  the  device 
known  as  the  "industrial  railway."  the  "terminal 
railway,"  and  all  the  tricks  of  inside  companies,  each 
levying  tribute  upon  the  traffic.  It  is  quite  familiar 
with  the  favoritism  given  to  express  companies,  and 
knows  exactly  how  producer  and  consumer  have 
been  handed  over  by  the  railroads,  to  be  plundered 
by  private  car  and  refrigerator  lines,  in  exhange  for 
their  traffic. 

The  public  has  gone  even  deeper  into  the  sub-^ 
ject.  It  knows  that  transportation  is  vital  to  organ- 
ized society  ;  that  it  is  a  function  of  government ; 
that  railway  lines  are  the  public  highways  to 
market ;  that  these  highways  are  established  under 
the  sanction  of  government;  that  the  railway  cor- 
poration dictates  the  location  of  its  right-of-way, 
lays  its  tracks  over  the  property  of  the  citizen  with- 


RAILWAY  RATE   BILL  123 

out  his  consent,  and  that  he  must  market  the 
products  of  his  capital  and  his  labor  over  this  high- 
wa}-,  if  at  all,  on  the  terms  fixed  by  the  railway  cor- 
poration. Or,  to  say  it  arrogantly  and  brutally,  as 
did  the  president  of  the  Louisville  and  Nashville 
Railway  Company  in  his  testimony  before  the  In- 
terstate Commerce  Commission,  that  the  public  can 
pay  the  charge  which  the  railroad  demands,  "or  it 
can  walk."  In  short,  sir,  the  public  has  come  to 
understand  that  the  railway  corporation  is  a  natu- 
ral monopoly,  Avhich  has  been  created  by  act  of 
government,  and  that  under  existing  conditions  the 
public  is  completely  at  the  mercy  of  this  natural 
monopoly. 

Because  it  is  a  natural  monopoly,  because  it  is  the 
creature  of  government,  it  becomes  the  duty  of 
government  to  see  to  it  that  the  railway  coiupany 
inflicts  no  wrong  upon  the  public,  to  compel  it  to 
do  what  is  right,  and  to  perform  its  office  as  a 
common  carrier. 

Sir,  it  IS  much  easier  to  stand  with  these  great 
interests  than  against  them.  This  was  true  when 
Adam  Smith  wrote  his  Wealth  of  Nations,  and  it 
is  true  in  1906.  \\^riting  of  the  struggle  with  mo- 
nopoly in  the  eighteenth  century,  he  said  : 

The  member  of  Parliament  who  supports  every 
proposition  for  strengthening  monopoly  is  sure 
to  acquire  great  reputation  for  understanding 
trade,  and  also  great  popularity  and  influence 
with  an  order  of  men  whose  numbers  and  wealth 
render  them  of  great  importance.  If  he  opposes 
them,  on  the  contrary,  and  still  more,  if  he  have 


124      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

authority  enough  to  thwart  them,  neither  the 
most  acknowledged  probity,  nor  the  highest  rank, 
nor  the  greatest  public  service,  can  protect  him 
from  the  most  infamous  abuse  and  detraction, 
from  personal  insults,  nor  sometimes  from  real 
danger  arising  from  the  influence  of  furious 
and  disappointed  monopolists. 

At  no  time  in  the  history  of  any  nation  has  it 
been  so  difficult  to  withstand  these  forces  as  it  is 
right  here  in  America  to-day.  Their  power  is 
acknowledged  in  every  community  and  manifest 
in  every  lawmaking  body.  It  is  idle  to  ignore  it. 
There  exists  all  over  this  country  a  distrust  of  Con- 
gress, a  fear  that  monopolistic  wealth  holds  the  bal- 
ance of  power  in  legislation. 

Mr.  President,.  I  contend  here,  as  I  have  contended 
upon  the  public  platform  in  Wisconsin,  and  in  other 
States,  that  the  history  of  the  last  thirty  years  of 
struggle  for  just  and  equitable  legislation  demon- 
strates that  the  powerful  combinations  of  organized 
wealth  and  special  interests  have  had  an  overbalanc- 
ing control  in  State  and  national  legislation. 

For  a  generation  the  American  people  have 
watched  the  growth  of  this  power  in  legislation. 
They  observe  how  vast  and  far-reaching  these  mod- 
ern business  methods  are  in  fact.  Against  the  natu- 
ral laws  of  trade  and  commerce  is  set  the  arbitrary 
will  of  a  few  masters  of  special  privilege.  The  prin- 
cipal transportation  lines  of  the  country  are  so 
operated  as  to  eliminate  competition.  Between  rail- 
roads and  other  monopolies  controlling  great  natu- 
ral  resources   and   most   of  the   necessaries   of  life 


RAILWAY  RATE  BILL  125 

there  exists  a  "community  of  interests"  in  all  cases 
and  an  identity  of  ownership  in  many.  They  have 
observed  that  these  great  combinations  are  closely 
associated  in  business  for  business  reasons ;  that 
they  are  also  closely  associated  in  politics  for  busi- 
ness reasons;  that  together  they  constitute  a  com- 
plete system;  that  they  encroach  upon  the  public 
rights,  defeat  legislation  for  the  public  good,  and 
secure  laws  to  promote  private  interests. 

Is  it  to  be  marveled  at  that  the  American  people 
have  become  convinced  that  railroads  and  industrial 
trusts  stand  between  them  and  their  representa- 
tives ;  that  they  have  come  to  believe  that  the  daily 
conviction  of  public  officials  for  betrayal  of  public 
trust  in  municipal.  State,  and  national  government 
is  but  a  suggestion  of  the  potential  influence  of  these 
great  combinations  of  wealth   and  power? 

During  this  debate  there  has  been  much  taHc 
about  the  country  having  "hysteria."  Magazine 
writers  and  press  correspondents  have  been  de- 
nounced, and  there  would  seem  to  be  an  agreement 
that  they  are  to  be  pursued  and  discredited,  lest 
they  lodge  in  the  popular  mind  a  wrongful  estimate 
of  the  public  service. 

It  does  not  lie  in  the  power  of  any  or  all  of  the 
magazines  of  the  country  or  of  the  press,  great  as 
it  is,  to  destroy,  without  justification,  the  confidence 
of  the  people  in  the  American  Congress.  Neither 
can  any  man  on  earth,  whatever  his  position  or 
power,  alter  the  settled  conviction  of  the  intelligent 
citizenship  of  this  country  when  it  is  grounded  on 


126       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

fact  and  experience.  It  rests  solely  with  the  United 
States  Senate  to  fix  and  maintain  its  own  reputation 
for  fidelity  to  public  trust.  It  will  be  judged  by 
the  record.  It  cannot  repose  in  security  upon  its 
exalted  position  and  the  glorious  heritage  of  its 
traditions.  It  is  worse  than  folly  to  feel,  or  to  pro- 
fess to  feel,  indifi"erent  with  respect  to  public  judg- 
ment. If  public  confidence  is  wanting  in  Congress, 
it  is  not  of  hasty  growth,  it  is  not  the  product  of 
"jaundiced  journalism."  It  is  the  result  of  years  of 
disappointment  and  defeat.  It  is  the  outgrowth  of 
a  quarter  of  a  century  of  keen,  discriminating  study 
of  public  questions,  public  records,  and  the  lives  of 
public  men. 

In  the  Supreme  Court,  midway  between  the  Sen- 
ate and  the  House,  Mr.  Justice  Brewer  has,  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  investigated,  analyzed,  and 
construed  the  legislative  work  of  Congress.  A  keen 
and  critical  observer  of  men  and  events,  he  can 
speak  with  wisdom  on  the  development  and  tenden- 
cies of  the  day,  and  no  man  will  dare  to  say  that  he 
speaks  in  passion  or  with  any  ulterior  purpose. 

In  an  address  on  ''The  ethical  obligation  of  the 
lawyer  as  a  lawmaker,"  before  the  Albany  Law 
School,  June  1,  1904,  he  said  : 

No  one  can  be  blind  to  the  fact  that  these 
mighty  corporations  are  holding  out  most  tempt- 
ing inducements  to  lawmakers  to  regard  in  their 
lawmaking  those  interests  rather  than  the  wel- 
fare of  the  nation. 

Senators  and  Representatives  have  owed  their 
places  to  corporate  influence,  and  that  influence 


RAIL\\'AY  RATE   BILL  ]27 

has  been  exerted  under  an  expectation,  if  not  an 
understanding,  that  as  lawmakers  the  corporate 
interests  shall  be   subserved.     .    .     . 

The  danger  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  are  so 
powerful  and  that  the  pressure  of  so  much 
power  upon  the  individual  lawmaker  tempts  him 
to  forget  the  nation  and  remember  the  corpora- 
tion. And  the  danger  is  greater  because  it  is 
insidious. 

There  may  be  no  written  agreement.  There 
may  be,  in  fact,  no  agreement  at  all,  and  yet, 
when  the  lawmaker  understands  that  the  power 
exists  which  may  make  for  his  advancement  or 
otherwise  and  that  it  will  be  exerted  according 
to  the  pliancy  with  which  he  yields  to  its  solicita- 
tions, it  lifts  the  corporation  into  a  position  of 
constant  danger  and  menace  to  republican  institu- 
tions. 

For  the  first  time  in  many  years  a  great  measure 
is  before  this  body  for  its  final  action.  The  subject 
with  which  it  deals  goes  to  the  very  heart  of  the 
whole  question.  Out  of  railroad  combination  with 
monopoly  and  its  power  over  legislation  comes  the 
perilous  relation  which  Mr.  Justice  Brewer  says 
"lifts  the  corporation  into  a  position  of  constant 
danger  and  menace  to  republican  institutions." 

We  have  the  opportunity  to  meet  the  demands  of 
the  hour,  or  we  may  weakly  temporize  while  the 
storm  continues  to  gather. 

On  Plymouth  Rock  eighty-six  years  ago  Daniel 
A\''ebster,  looking  with  prophetic  vision  into  the  cen- 
tury beyond,  uttered  these  words,  which  fall  upon 
thi.s  dav  and  generation  as  a  solemn  mandate: 


128       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

As  experience  may  show  errors  in  our  estab- 
lishments we  are  bound  to  correct  them,  and  if 
any  practices  exist  contrary  to  the  principles  of 
justice  and  humanity  within  the  reach  of  our 
laws  or  our  mfluence,  we  are  inexcusable  if  we 
do  not  exert  ourselves  to  restrain  and  abolish 
them. 

Mr.  President,  our  responsibility  is  great;  our 
duty  is  plain.  If  a  true  spirit  of  independent,  pa- 
triotic service  controls  Congress,  this  bill  will  be 
reconstructed  on  the  broad  basis  of  public  interest. 


ALASKA:  THE  NATION'S  STOREHOUSE 

ROBERT  JI.  LA  FOLLETTE 

Remarks  of  Robert  M.  La  Follette  in  the  Senate  of  the 
fnitetl   States.  August  21,   1911. 

Mr.  President,  the  conservation  of  our  natural 
resources  is  one  of  the  most  important  problems 
of  this  generation.  It  is  only  recently  that  it  has 
been  generally  realized  that  our  natural  resources 
are  not  inexhaustible. 

Originally  the  public  domain  of  the  United  States 
amounted  in  round  numbers  to  1,400,000,000  acres. 
Of  this  amount  nearly  all  of  the  original  domain 
available  for  agriculture  and  the  greater  part  of 
our  mineral  wealth  outside  of  Alaska  has  been  dis- 
posed of,  amounting  in  round  nuinbers  to  more 
than  700,000,000  acres.  Of  this  amount  individuals 
and  corporations  have  acquired  more  than  571,- 
000,000  acres.  Out  of  the  571,000,000  acres  disposed 
of  to  individuals  and  corporations  there  have  been 
acquired  through  the  exercise  of  the  homestead 
right  only  115,000,000  acres.  The  railroads  and 
other  corporations  had  bestowed  upon  them  by  con- 
gressional grants,  without  any  return  whatever  to 
the  Government,  in  round  numl)ers,  12.3,000.000 
acres. 

Many  of  the  mistakes  which  have  been  made  i.i 
129 


130      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

the  States  cannot  be  rectified.  When  remedies  may 
be  possible  they  may  sometimes  be  found  difficult 
of  application.  But  in  Alaska  we  still  have  a  mag- 
nificent domain  practically  untouched,  a  domain 
consisting  of  368,000,000  acres  of  land,  an  empire  of 
wealth  in  coal  and  other  mineral  resources,  the  ex- 
tent of  which  has  not  been  determined.  With  the 
experience  of  the  past,  the  waste  of  these  resources, 
the  turning  of  them  over  to  speculation  and  monop- 
oly would  be  a  crime  against  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  Here  we  have  conditions  permitting 
of  true  conservation  without  encountering  the  prob- 
lems which  confront  us  in  considering  the  public 
domain  in  the  States.  These  resources  cannot  to 
any  great  degree  be  developed  by  the  individual 
man  through  the  labor  of  his  hands.  Here  are  no 
vast  tracts  of  agricultural  lands  to  complicate  the 
problem.  It  requires  capital  to  develop  these  re- 
sources, and  the  question  is.  Shall  the  profit  all  go 
to  private  capital,  or  shall  the  people  as  a  whole — 
the  owners  of  these  resources — with  their  own  capi- 
tal make  possible  such  a  development  as  will  insure 
to  the  people  their  share  of  benefits? 

Alaska  was  purchased  with  the  people's  money, 
taken  from  their  common  fund — the  Treasury  of 
the  United  States.  Whatever  of  profit,  whatever  of 
advantage  m  any  way  accrues  from  that  purchase 
belongs  to  all  the  people,  and  it  will  be  the  great- 
est crime  of  our  generation  if  we  permit  it  to  be 
given  over  to  Morgan,  Guggenheim,  and  other  great 
financial  interests. 


ALASKA  131 

Whatever  evidence  or  lack  of  evidence  there  may 
be  as  to  the  present  intentions  and  maneuvers  of 
corporate  power  in  Alaska,  our  experience  w^ith  the 
same  forces  nearer  home  teaches  us  that  monopoly 
under  these  conditions  is  inevitable.  Anyone  who 
examines  these  documents  must  see  that  the  founda- 
tions are  being  laid  in  Wall  Street  for  the  upbuild - 
ing  of  a  monopoly  in  Alaska  equal  to  that  which 
controls  the  great  anthracite  coal  fields  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. Here  we  have  the  same  work  of  pioneers 
and  prospectors,  the  same  investors  and  mining 
companies,  securing  foothold  and  endeavoring  to 
reach  the  market,  but  unable  to  induce  capital  to 
assume  the  risks  of  a  contest  with  special  interests, 
denied  all  hope  of  transportation  and  reasonable 
freight  rates  to  reach  markets.  The  same  situation, 
if  unchecked  in  Alaska,  will  develop  in  a  very  few 
years  to  the  point  of  monopoly  control  which  it  re- 
quired   thirty  years  to  reach  in  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  President,  the  key  to  the  whole  situation  is 
the  control  of  the  means  of  transportation. 

The  anthracite  coal  of  the  United  States  lies  in 
three  small  fields  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 
Brought  together  into  one  body  they  would  consti- 
tute a  little  strip  of  country  eight  miles  by  sixty — 
that  is  all  of  the  anthracite  coal  outside  of  Alaska. 

This  little  patch  of  anthracite  coal  to-day  is 
owned,  Mr.  President,  chiefly  by  one,  and  entirely, 
except  a  very  small  percentage  of  it,  by  two  rail- 
road companies.  How  did  they  acquire  it?  There 
was  a  time   when  it  belonged  to  individuals   who 


132      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

were  seeking  to  develop  it.  But  in  ISTl  eight  rail- 
roads tapped  these  coal  fields.  Not  a  pound  of  that 
coal  could  g'o  to  market  except  over  the  lines  of 
these  railroads. 

These  eight  railroad  companies  conspired  to  take 
that  coal  land  away  from  the  individuals  who  owned 
it.  How?  They  had  absolute  control  of  the  only 
highways  over  which  the  coal  could  find  its  way  to 
market.  It  was  in  their  power  to  charge  such  trans- 
portation rates  as  they  chose,  to  withhold  cars  if 
they  saw  fit,  and  in  all  the  devious  ways  in  which 
the  business  of  the  great  transportation  lines  of  the 
country  may  be  operated  to  oppress  shippers,  to 
work  their  will  and  take  over  the  property  of  the 
individual  owners  of  those  coal  lands.  The}^  effected 
an  organization ;  they  proceeded  to  formulate  rules 
and  to  enforce  such  hard  conditions  with  respect  to 
transportation  as  made  it  impossible  for  the  men 
who  owned  the  land  to  produce  the  coal  and  trans- 
port it  to  market  at  a  profit.  One  after  another 
these  men  were  forced  to  the  wall  and  compelled  to 
surrender  their  property.  The  weakest  went  down 
first.  Finally,  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  aroused  at 
the  wrong  and  injustice  inflicted  by  the  transporta- 
tion companies  upon  the  individual  owners  of  these 
coal  fields,  called  a  convention  and  adopted  an 
amendment  to  the  State  constitution  the  purpose 
of  which  was  to  put  an  end  to  these  wrongs. 

In  1873  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  wrote  into  its 
constitution  a  provision  that  no  railroad  company 
should  acquire  or  own  or  operate  mines  or  mining 


ALASKA  133 

land?.  It  put  an  express  provision  into  the  constitu- 
tion limiting  the  rights  of  the  railroads  in  the  ac- 
quisition of  real  estate  to  land  acquired  solely  for 
transportation  purposes — a  proper  and  a  legitimate 
provision  to  write  into  organic  and  statutory  law. 

One  would  think  that  such  a  provision  would 
have  afforded  protection  and  put  an  end  to  the 
tyrann}'  and  oppression  of  these  railroads.  It  did 
not.  They  trampled  under  foot  that  constitutional 
provision;  they  paid  no  heed  to  it  whatever;  they 
went  on  acquiring  control  of  these  coal  lands  by  op- 
pression which  has  seldom  been  equaled  in  any 
country  since  society  was  organized  and  govern- 
ments established.  Men  were  ruined,  their  property 
taken  from  them  at  such  a  pittance  as  the  railroad 
companies  chose  to  pay  for  it,  and,  finally,  Mr. 
President,  a  subservient  Pennsylvania  Legislature— 
and  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  has,  with  rare 
exceptions,  been  subservient  to  corporations — I  say 
a  subservient  Pennsylvania  Legislature,  instead  of 
enacting  appropriate  legislation  for  the  enforcement 
fif  this  constitutional  provision,  enacted  a  law  for- 
ever preventing  any  of  the  lands  thus  acquired  from 
escheating  to  the  State.  They  gave  immunity  to 
these  railroads — clothed  them  with  an  indefeasible 
title  in  these  lands  acquired  in  violation  of  the  or- 
ganic law  of  the  State.  The  constitutional  pro- 
vision directed  against  railroad  control  of  the  coal 
fields  required  legislative  enactment  to  make  it 
operative,  and  the  Legislature,  instead  of  making  it 
operative,  strangled  it  and  then  passed  a  statute  to 


134      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

make  secure  the  title  of  the  railroads  in  these  coal 
lands  they  had  filched  from  the  owners. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  tremendous  power  of  freight 
discriminations  first  showed  itself  in  the  anthracite 
coal  fields  of  Pennsylvania  40  years  ago  when  it 
was  employed  to  force  ultimatel}"  the  sale  of  95 
per  cent,  of  all  the  individually  owned  anthracite 
coal  lands  to  railroads  owning  and  operating  the 
only  lines  over  which  the  coal  could  be  transported 
to  market. 

We  are  now  required  to  decide  which  of  these  two 
methods  shall  the  American  people  adopt  in  Alaska. 
Shall  we  give  Alaska  over  for  the  profit — the  enor- 
mous and  ever-increasing  profit — of  that  great  or- 
ganization, now  practically  under  the  direction  of 
a  single  mind  in  this  country,  controlling  the  credits, 
the  transportation,  the  industrial  organizations,  the 
franchise  institutions  of  the  country?  Will  the 
American  people  be  so  blind,  so  dull,  as  to  permit 
this  enormously  rich  field  of  Alaska  to  become  the 
property  of  Morgan  and  those  allied  with  him,  and 
thus  force  all  the  great  western  country  and  the 
millions  who  are  to  people  it  in  the  generations  to 
come  to  pay  such  extortionate  prices  for  coal  as 
that  power  will  certainly  exact,  or  will  the  people 
of  this  country,  who  own  Alaska,  see  to  it  that  this 
great  storehouse  of  wealth  shall  be.  used  for  the 
benefit  of  all  the  people,  their  children,  and  their 
children's  children  for  all  time? 

The  American  people  are  the  owners  of  the  re- 
sources   of   Alaska.      These    have    been    preserved 


ALASKA  135 

up  to  the  present  time  by  withdrawing  them  from 
occupation  and  use.  The  people  now  clamor  for 
their  use  and  for  the  development  which  is  essential 
to  their  use.  They  are  entitled  to  get  the  benefit 
of  the  reduction  in  the  cost  of  living  which  will  come 
from  a  utilization  of  Alaska's  treasures.  The  whole 
Pacific  coast  demands  access  to  the  enormous  coal 
deposits.  Tiie  people  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
will  gain  by  their  development.  Even  the  Navy 
Department  of  the  Federal  Government  is  com- 
pelled to  pay  $9  to  $13  for  coal  on  the  Pacific  coast 
which  costs  $3  to  $4  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  The  tests 
which  have  been  made  show  that  samples  of  coal 
from  veins  as  thick  as  33  feet  in  the  Controller  Bay 
region  have  a  higher  heating  value  than  coal  se- 
cured by  the  Navy  Department  on  the  eastern  tide- 
water. 

The  problem  then  remaining  is  how  to  administer 
this  great  estate.  The  example  of  Panama  points 
the  way.  Congress,  of  course,  cannot  deal  with  this 
subject  in  all  of  its  details  nor  assume  the  manage- 
ment of  the  development  of  our  resources  in  Alaska. 
The  same  reasons  which  prevent  Congress  from  un- 
dertaking supervision  apply  practically  with  equal 
force  to  the  President,  the  Interior  Department  and 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

The  sensible  and  practical  thing  to  do  is  to  create 
a  board  of  public  works  for  Alaska,  to  be  appointed 
by  the  President  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  sim- 
ilar to  the  Isthmian  Canal  Commission.  This  board 
of  public  works  should  then  undertake,  not  merely 


136       EXTEAIPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

to  build  a  railroad  from  Controller  Bay  to  the  coal 
fields,  but  it  should  now  acquire  all  of  the  railroads 
in  Alaska,  and  settle  at  once  the  policy  of  govern- 
mental ownership.  It  should  similarly  provide  for 
the  development  of  other  public  utilities,  such  as 
the  telegraph  and  telephone.  It  should  operate  and 
develop  the  wharves  and  docks  and  steamship  lines, 
if  necessary,  to  deliver  the  products  of  Alaska  to 
the  Pacific  coast.  The  Morgan-Guggenheims,  accus- 
tomed to  the  highest  profits  on  their  investments, 
and  demanding  to  a  great  extent  immediate  returns, 
must  make  exorbitant  and  oppressive  charges.  The 
people  of  the  United  States  do  not  demand  an  im- 
mediate return.  They  can  themselves  supply  all 
necessary  money  at  an  interest  charge  of  less  than 
3  per  cent.  Rates  for  transportation  and  for  other 
public  utilities  may  properly  be  low,  with  the  capital 
cost  as  small  as  the  investment  would  be  to  the 
people.  Most  important  of  all  is  control  of  the 
transportation  facilities  by  the  Government.  It 
would  forever  remove  the  irresistible  temptation  of 
discrimination,  rebates,  and  corruption  which  have 
characterized  the  worst  period  of  our  railroad  opera- 
tion. 

The  whole  situation  is  summed  up  in  the  Republi- 
can platform  of  Wisconsin,  adopted  September, 
1910,  which  says : 

The  attempt  of  private  monopoly  to  steal  the 
Alaskan  coal  fields  was  defeated  for  the  time  be- 
ing through  the  efiforts  of  a  few  courageous  offi- 
cials whose  sacrfiice  and  devotion  to  duty  furnish 
an  example  worthy  of  emulation  in  every  depart- 


ALASKA  137 

ment  and  rank  of  the  public  service.  Failing  to 
secure  the  coal  tields  through  perjury  and  fraud, 
special  interests  will  exploit  them  through  a 
monopoly  of  transportation.  The  title  to  the  coal 
fields  of  Alaska  should  be  forever  retained  by 
the  Government,  subject  to  lease  under  proper 
regulation.  The  situation  of  Alaska  is  excep- 
tional. Transportation  is  the  basis  of  control. 
It  is  the  key  to  this  vast  territory  of  treasure. 
As  exceptional  conditions  in  Panama  require  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  to  own  and 
operate  a  railroad  on  the  Isthmus  in  order  to  pro- 
tect its  interests  and  the  interests  of  shippers, 
so  we  hold  that  exceptional  conditions  in  Alaska 
require  that  the  Federal  Government  should  con- 
struct, own,  and  operate  the  railroads,  docks,  and 
steamship  lines  necessary  to  the  opening  up  of 
the  Alaska  coal  fields  and  other  natural  resources. 

With  a  law  such  as  I  have  indicated,  the  Govern- 
ment owning  the  railroads,  the  direct  operation  or 
leasing-  of  the  coal  fields  under  proper  regulations, 
insuring  a  proper  revenue  to  the  Government  for 
the  benefit  of  the  people,  and  proper  regulations 
that  will  protect  the  consumer,  all  under  the  man- 
agement of  a  board  of  experts  having  in  mind  only 
the  public  interest,  I  believe  that  the  problem  of 
conservation  of  our  natural  resources  in  Alaska  will 
be  solved  and  that  its  administration  there  will  be 
of  great  aid  to  us  in  securing  solutions  for  some 
of  the  problems  which  confront  us  in  considering  the 
conservation  of  such  natural  resources  as  are  still 
a  part  of  the  public  domain  in  the  States. 


ON  WITHDRAWING  FROM  THE  UNION 

JEFFERSON   DAVIS 

A  part  of  the  speech  deHvered  by  Jefferson  Davis  in  th^ 
United  States  Senate,  January  21,  1861. 

[According  to  Edward  A.  Pollard  in  "The  Life  of  Jefferson 
Davis,"  it  was  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  the  highest 
school  of  eloquence  in  America,  that  Mr.  Davis  formed  his 
style.  His  was  the  oratory  delivered  to  the  few  and  culti- 
vated. He  had  a  wealth  of  words  that  were  both  forceful 
and  polished,  coupled  with  a  rich,  manly  eloquence."  He 
spoke  very  deliberately,  "somtimes  with  majestic  slowness 
pouring  out  his  wealth  of  eloquenc."  Mr.  Davis  had  above  all 
else  that  which  constitutes  the  highest  art  of  oratory,  "self- 
countenance  in   the  expression  of  passion."] 

I  rise,  Mr.  President,  for  the  purpose  of  announc- 
ing to  the  Senate  that  I  have  satisfactory  evidence 
that  the  State  of  Mississippi,  by  a  solemn  ordinance 
of  her  people  in  convention  assembled,  has  declared 
her  separation  from  the  United  States.  Under  these 
circumstances,  of  course  my  functions  are  termi- 
nated here.  It  has  seemed  to  me  proper,  however, 
that  I  should  appear  in  the  Senate  to  announce  that 
fact  to  my  associates. 

It  is  known  to  senators  who  have  served  with  me 
here  that  I  have  for  many  years  advocated,  as  an 
essential  attribute  of  State  sovereignty,  the  right  of 
a  State  to  secede  from  the  Union.  I  hope  none  who 
hear  me  will  confound  this  expression  of  mine  with 

139 


1-10       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

the  advocacy  of  a  State  to  remain  in  the  Union, 
and  to  disregard  its  constitutional  obligation  by  the 
nullification  of  the  law.  Such  is  not  my  theory. 
Nullification  and  secession,  so  often  confounded,  are 
indeed  antagonistic  principles.  Nullification  is  a 
rem.edv  which  it  is  sought  to  apply  within  the 
Union,  and  against  the  agent  of  the  States.  Seces- 
sion belongs  to  a  different  class  of  remedies.  It  is 
to  be  justified  upon  the  basis  that  the  States  are 
sovereign.  I  therefore  say  I  concur  in  the  action  of 
the  people  of  Mississippi,  believing  it  to  be  neces- 
sary and  proper,  and  should  have  been  bound  by 
their  action  if  my  belief  had  been  otherwise;  and 
this  brings  me  to  the  important  point  which  I  wish 
on  this  last  occasion  to  present  to  the  Senate.  A 
State  finding  herself  in  the  condition  in  which  Mis- 
sissippi has  judged  she  is,  in  which  her  safety  re- 
quires that  she  should  provide  for  the  maintenance 
of  her  rights  out  of  the  Union,  surrenders  all  the 
benefits  (and  they  are  known  to  be  many),  deprives 
herself  of  the  advantages  (they  are  known  to  be 
great),  severs  all  the  ties  of  affection  (and  they  are 
close  and  enduring),  wdiich  have  bound  her  to  the 
Union;  and  thus  divesting  herself  of  every  benefit, 
taking  upon  herself  every  burden,  she  claims  to  be 
exempt  from  any  power  to  execute  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  within  her  limits. 

I  well  remember  an  occasion  when  Massachusetts 
was  arraigned  before  the  bar  of  the  Senate,  and 
wdien  then  the  doctrine  of  coercion  was  rife  and  to 
be  applied  against  her  because  of  the  rescue  of  a 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS  141 

fugitive  slave  in  Boston.  My  opinion  then  was 
the  same  that  it  is  now.  I  then  said,  if  Massachu- 
setts, following  her  through  a  stated  line  of  con- 
duct, chooses  to  take  the  last  step  which  separates 
her  from  the  Union,  it  is  her  right  to  go,  and  I  will 
neither  vote  one  dollar  nor  one  man  to  coerce  her 
back ;  but  will  say  to  her,  God-speed,  in  memory  of 
the  kind  associations  which  once  existed  between 
her  and  the  other  States. 

I  find  in  myself,  perhaps,  a  type  of  the  general 
feeling  of  my  constituents  toward  yours.  I  am  sure 
I  feel  no  hostility  to  you,  senators  from  the  North. 
I  am  sure  there  is  not  one  of  you,  whatever  sharp 
discussion  there  may  have  been  between  us,  to 
whom  I  cannot  now  say,  in  the  presence  of  my  God, 
I  wish  you  well ;  and  such,  I  am  sure,  is  the  feeling 
of  the  people  whom  I  represent  toward  those  whom 
you  represent.  I  therefore  feel  that  I  but  express 
their  desire  when  I  say  I  hope,  and  they  hope,  for 
peaceful  relations  with  you,  tho'  we  must  part.  They 
may  be  mutually  beneficial  to  us  in  the  future,  as 
they  have  been  in  the  past,  if  you  so  will  it.  The 
reverse  may  bring  disaster  on  every  portion  of  the 
country ;  and  if  you  will  have  it  thus,  we  will  in- 
voke the  God  of  our  fathers,  who  delivered  them 
from  the  power  of  the  lion,  to  protect  us  from  the 
ravages  of  the  bear;  and  thus,  putting  our  trust  in 
God,  and  in  our  firm  hearts  and  strong  arms,  we  will 
vindicate  the  right  as  best  we  may. 

In  the  course  of  my  service  here,  associated  at 
difi'erent  times  with  a  great  variety  of  senators,  I 


143      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

see  now  around  me  some  with  whom  I  have  served 
long;  there  have  been  points  of  collision;  but  what- 
ever of  offense  there  has  been  to  me,  I  leave  here; 
I  carry  with  me  no  hostile  remembrance.  Whatever 
offense  I  have  given  which  has  not  been  redressed, 
or  for  which  satisfaction  has  not  been  demanded,  I 
have,  senators,  in  this  hour  of  our  parting,  to  offer 
3'ou  my  apology  for  any  pain  which,  in  heat  of 
discussion,  I  have  inflicted.  I  go  hence  unencum- 
bered of  the  remembrance  of  any  injury  received, 
and  having  discharged  the  duty  of  making  the  only 
reparation  in  my  power  for  any  injury  oft'ered. 

Mr.  President  and  Senators,  having  made  the 
announcement  Avhich  the  occasion  seemed  to  me  to 
require,  it  only  remains  for  me  to  bid  you  a  final 
adieu. 


PAUL   BEFORE   AGRIPPA^ 

To  conciliate  the  Jews,  whom  Paul  had  angered  by  his 
bold  speaking,  the  Roman  governor,  Felix,  had  kept  him  in 
prison  for  two  years.  When  Pontius  Festus  took  Felix'  place, 
however,  he  had  Paul  brought  before  him,  and  on  Paul's 
appealing  to  the  judgment  of  Caesar,  prepared  to  send  him  to 
Rome.  As  King  Agrippa  came  to  visit  him  at  this  time,  how- 
ever, Festus  placed  Paul  before  his  noble  guest.  Then 
Agrippa  said  unto  Paul  : 

Thou  art  permitted  to  speak  for  thyself. 

Then  Paul  stretched  out  his  hand,  and  answered  for  himself 
with  such  effect  that  Agrippa  said  to  him,  "Almost  thou  per- 
suadest  me  to  be  a  Christian,"  and  to  Festus  later,  "This  man 
might  have  been  set  at  liberty  if  he  had  not  appealed  unto 
Caesar." 

I  think  myself  happy,  King  Agrippa,  because  I 
shall  answer  for  myself  this  day  before  thee  touch- 
ing all  the  things  whereof  I  am  accused  of  the 
Jews :  Especially  because  I  know  thee  to  be  expert 
in  all  customs  and  questions  which  are  among  the 
Jews  :  wherefore  I  beseech  thee  to  hear  me  patiently. 
My  manner  of  life  from  my  youth,  which  was  at 
the  first  among  mine  own  nation  at  Jerusalem,  know 
all  the  Jews ;  which  knew  me  from  the  beginning, 
if  they  would  testify,  that  after  the  most  straitest 
sect  of  our  religion  I  lived  a  Pharisee.  And  now 
I  stand  and  am  judged  for  the  hope  of  the  promise 
made  of  God  unto  our  fathers:  unto  which  promise 

'The  group  of  short  speeches  from  the  Scriptures  are 
included  in  this  volume  as  examples  of  vivid  imagery  and 
rare  choice  of  words. 

143 


144       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

our  twelve  tribes,  instantly  serving  God  day  and 
night,  hope  to  come.  For  which  hope's  sake.  King 
Agrippa,  I  am  accused  of  the  Jews. 

Why  should  it  be  thought  a  thing  incredible  with 
you,  that  God  should  raise  the  dead? 

I  verily  thought  with  myself  that  I  ought  to  do 
many  things  contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  Which  thing  I  did  also  in  Jerusalem  : 
and  many  of  the  saints  did  I  shut  up  in  prison,  hav- 
ing received  authority  from  the  chief  priests ;  and 
when  they  were  put  to  death,  I  gave  my  voice 
against  them.  And  I  punished  them  oft  in  every 
synagogue,  and  compelled  them  to  blaspheme ;  and 
being  exceedingly  mad  against  them,  I  persecuted 
them  even  unto  strange  cities.  Whereupon  as  I 
went  to  Damascus  with  authority  and  commission 
from  the  chief  priests,  at  midday,  O  king,  I  saw  in 
the  way  a  light  from  heaven,  above  the  brightness 
of  the  sun,  shining  round  about  me  and  them  which 
journeyed  with  me.  And  when  we  were  all  fallen 
to  the  earth,  I  heard  a  voice  speaking  unto  me,  and 
saying  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  Saul,  Saul,why  perse- 
cutest  thou  me?  it  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against 
the  pricks. 

And  I  said,  Who  art  thou,  Lord? 

And  he  said,  I  am  Jesus,  whom  thou  persecutest. 
But  rise,  and  stand  upon  thy  feet ;  for  I  have  ap- 
peared unto  thee  for  this  purpose,  to  make  thee  a 
minister  and  a  witness  both  of  those  things  which 
thou  hast  seen,  and  of  those  things  in  the  which 
I  will  appear  unto  thee ;  delivering  thee  from  the 


PAUL  BEFORE  AGRIPPA  145 

people,  and  from  t!ie  Gentiles,  unto  whom  now  I 
send  thee.  To  open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn  them 
from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of 
Satan  unto  God,  that  they  may  receive  forgiveness 
of  sins,  and  inheritance  among  them  which  are 
sanctified  by  faith  that  is  in  me. 

Whereupon,  O  King  Agrippa,  I  was  not  dis- 
obedient unto  the  heavenly  vision ;  but  shewed  first 
unto  them  of  Damascas,  and  at  Jerusalem,  and 
throughout  the  coast  of  Judea,  and  then  to  the  Gen- 
tiles, that  they  should  repent  and  turn  to  God,  and 
do  works  meet  for  repentance.  For  these  causes 
the  Jews  caught  me  in  the  temple,  and  went  about 
to  kill  me. 

Having  obtained  help  of  God,  I  continue  unto  this 
day,  witnessing  both  to  small  and  great,  saying 
none  other  things  than  those  which  the  prophets 
and  Moses  did  say  should  come :  That  Christ 
should  sufifer,  and  that  he  should  be  the  first  that 
should  rise  from  the  dead,  and  should  shew  light 
imto  the  people  and  to  the  Gentiles. — Acts  26 :  1-23. 


PAUL  AT   MARS    HILL 

Paul,  on  one  of  his  missionary  journeys,  came  to  Athens, 
where  he  was  received  with  eager  curiosity.  Presently  some 
pliilosophers  of  the  Epicureans  and  of  the  Stoics  encountered 
him,  and  after  arguing  a  while,  took  him  to  Mars'  Hill,  and 
asked  him  to  expound  his  views  more  fully.  Then  Paul  stood 
in  the  midst  of  liars'  Hill,  and  said: 

Ye  men  of  Athens,  I  perceive  that  in  all  things 
ye  are  too  superstitious.  For  as  I  passed  by,  and 
beheld  your  devotions,  I  found  an  altar  with  this 
inscription,  To  the  unknown  God.  Whom,  there- 
fore, ye  ignorantly  worship,  him  declare  I  unto  you. 
God,  that  made  the  world  and  all  things  therein, 
seeing  that  he  is  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  dwelleth 
not  in  temples  made  with  hands ;  neither  is  wor- 
shipped with  men's  hands,  as  though  he  needed  any- 
thing, seeing  he  giveth  to  all  life,  and  breath  and 
all  things ;  and  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations 
of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth,  and 
hath  determined  the  times  before  appointed,  and 
the  bounds  of  their  habitation ;  that  they  might 
seek  the  Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after  him 
and  find  him,  though  he  be  not  far  from  every  one 
of  us ;  For  in  him  we  live  and  move,  and  have  our 
being;  as  certain  also  of  your  own  poets  have  said, 
for  we  are  also  his  offspring. 

Forasmuch,  then,  as  we  are  the  offspring  of  God, 
we  ought  not  to  think  that  the   Godhead  is   like 

147 


148       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

unto  gold  or  silver  or  stone,  graven  by  art  of  man's 
device.  And  the  times  of  this  ignorance  God 
winked  at ;  but  now  commandeth  all  men  every- 
Avhere  to  repent ;  because  he  hath  appointed  a  day 
in  the  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in  righteous- 
ness by  that  man  whom  he  hath  ordained ;  whereof 
he  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men,  in  that  he 
hath  raised  him  from  the  dead. — ActslQ:  22-31. 


NATHAN'S  PARABLE  OF  THE  EWE  LAMB 

King  David  wished  to  marry  the  wife  of  Uriah,  one  of  his 
generals,  and  in  order  to  carry  out  his  wishes  as  quickly  as 
possible,  had  Uriah  set  in  "the  forefront  of  the  hottest  battle," 
an  honorable  position  which  was  almost  certain  death.  Uriah 
was  killed,  and  David  married  his  widow  as  soon  as  the  law 
allowed.  But  the  thing  that  David  had  done  displeased  the 
Lord,  and  the  Lord  sent  Nathan  unto  David,  and  he  said 
unto  him  : 

There  were  two  men  in  one  city :  the  one  rich, 
and  the  other  poor.  The  rich  man  had  exceeding 
many  flocks  and  herds  :  But  the  poor  man  had  noth- 
ing- save  one  little  ewe  lamb,  which  he  had  bought 
and  nourished  up ;  and  it  grew  up  together  with 
him,  and  with  his  children  ;  it  did  eat  of  his  own 
meat,  and  drank  of  his  cup,  and  lay  in  his  l)osom, 
and  was  unto  him  as  a  daughter. 

And  there  catne  a  traveller  unto  the  rich  man,  and 
he  spared  to  take  of  his  own  flock  and  of  his  own 
herd  to  dress  for  the  wayfaring  man  that  was  come 
unto  him  ;  but  took  the  poor  man's  lamb,  and  dressed 
it  for  the  man  that  was  come  to  him. 

Then  the  angry  kini^.  demanded  the  name  of  the 
rich  man,  that  he  might  be  punished.  And  Nathan 
said  to  David,  Tliou  art  the  man. — 11  Samuel,  13: 
1-12. 


149 


TERTULLUS'   SPEECH   AGAINST   PAUL 

The  Apostle  Paul,  because  of  his  bold  speaking  in  Jerusalem, 
was  in  danger  of  being  killed  by  the  Jews,  but  was  rescued 
by  the  Romans  and  sent  to  the  Roman  governor.  Felix,  at 
Caesarea.  Here  he  was  tried,  an  orator  named  Tertullus  being 
his  chief  accuser.  And  when  Paul  was  called  forth,  Tertullus 
began  to  accuse  him,  saying : 

Seeint;"  that  by  thee  we  enjoy  great  qttietness,  and 
that  very  worthy  deeds  are  done  unto  this  nation 
In-  thv  providence,  we  accept  it  always,  and  in  all 
places,  most  noble  Felix,  with  all  thankfulness. 
Notwithstanding,  that  I  be  not  further  tedious  to 
thee.  I  pray  thee  that  thou  wouldest  hear  us  of  thy 
clemency  a  few  words. 

For  we  have  found  this  man  a  pestilent  fellow, 
and  a  mover  of  sedition  among  all  the  Jews  through- 
out the  world,  and  a  ringleader  of  the  sect  of  the 
Nazarenes  ;  who  also  hath  gone  about  to  profane  the 
temple :  whom  we  took  and  would  have  judged  ac- 
cording to  our  law.  But  the  chief  captain  Lysias 
came  upon  us,  and  with  great  violence  took  him 
away  out  of  our  hands,  commanding  his  accusers  to 
come  unto  thee ;  by  examining  of  whom  thyself 
mayest  take  knowledge  of  all  these  things  whereof 
we  accuse  him. — Acts  24.  2-8. 


151 


PAUL'S  REPLY  TO  TERTULLUS 

In  answer  to  the  speech  made  against  him  by  Tertullus.  be- 
fore the  Roman  governor,  Felix,  Paul,  after  that  the  gover- 
nor had  beckoned  him  to  speak,  answered : 

ForasniLich  as  I  know  that  thou  hast  been  of  many 
years  a  judge  unto  this  nation,  I  do  the  more  cheer- 
fuUv  answer  for  myself;  because  that  thou  mayest 
understand  that  there  are  yet  but  twelve  days  since 
I  went  up  to  Jerusalem  for  to  worship.  And  they 
neither  found  me  in  the  temple  disputing  with  any 
man,  neither  raising  up  the  people,  neither  in  the 
synagogues,  nor  in  the  city ;  neither  can  they  prove 
the  things  whereof  they  now  accuse  me. 

But  this  I  confess  unto  thee,  that  after  the  way 
which  they  call  heresy  so  worship  I  the  God  of  my 
fathers,  believing  all  things  which  are  written  in 
the  law  and  in  the  prophets :  and  have  hope  toward 
God,  which  they  themselves  also  allow,  that  there 
shall  be  a  resurrection  of  the  dead,  both  of  the  just 
and  unjust.  And  herein  do  I  exercise  myself,  to 
have  always  a  conscience  void  of  oiTense  toward 
God  and  toward  man. 

Now,  after  many  years  I  came  to  bring  alms  to  my 
nation  and  offerings.  Whereupon  certain  Jews 
from  Asia  found  me  purified  in  the  temple,  neither 
with  multitude,  nor  with  tumult.  Who  ought  to 
have  been  here  before  thee,  and  object,  if  they  had 

153 


154      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

aught  against  nie.  Or  else  let  these  same  here  say, 
if  they  have  found  any  evil  doing  in  me,  while  I 
stood  before  the  council,  except  it  be  for  this  one 
voice,  that  I  cried  standing  among  them,  touching 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead  I  am  called  in  question 
by  you  this  day.— Acts  34:  10-21. 


JULIA  WARD  HOWE 

CHARLES  W.  ELIOT 

Remarks  of  Charles  W.  Eliot  at  the  obsequies  of  Julia 
Ward  Howe. 

This  is  not  the  time  or  place  for  studied  eulogy, 
nor  can  any  single  voice  express  the  depth  of  feel- 
ing that  has  drawn  this  company  together.  We 
are  gathered  here  simply  to  bring  our  tribute  of 
gratitude  and  reverence.  Each  one  of  us  has  some 
particular  reason  for  grateful  appreciation ;  but, 
whatever  may  be  the  separate  and  individual  ties 
that  have  bound  us  in  love  and  honor  to  Mrs.  Howe, 
all  of  us  alike  share  the  impression  of  the  richness 
and  abundance  of  her  nature  and  the  prodigality  cf 
her  gifts. 

The  Scripture  phrase  which  one  thinks  of  in  con- 
nection with  this  life  is  the  word  of  the  Master,  "I 
am  come  that  ye  may  have  life  and  have  it  more 
abundantly."  This  is  a  career  that  speaks  to  us 
of  the  abundance  of  life,  of  richness  of  experience, 
of  completed  roundness  of  character  and  achieve- 
ment, of  rare  gifts  nobly  used.  Here  was  a  life  rich 
in  aspiration  and  accomplishment,  rich  in  love  given 
and  received,  rich  in  widespread  and  penetrating 
influence,  a  life  radiant  with  encouragement  to  the 
end. 

155 


156      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

She  passed  througli  the  changeful  experiences  of 
more  than  ninety  fruitful  3^ears, — the  happy  days  of 
sheltered  childhood,  the  years  of  brilliant  and  beau- 
tiful youth,  the  sacred  oblig-ations  of  wife  and 
mother,  the  varied  experiences  of  ceaseless  philan- 
thropic labors,  the  fascinating  diversity  of  social 
relationships,  the  applause  of  listening-  thousands, 
the  accumulated  honors  of  age.  She  enriched  our 
literature.  She  inspired  our  patriotism.  She  up- 
built our  ideals  alike  of  domestic  fidelity  and  hap- 
piness and  of  public-spirited  service.  She  was  in- 
terested in  everything, — in  nature,  in  events,  in  per- 
sons, in  causes,  in  truth.  She  loved  the  New  Eng- 
land landscape  and  delightedly  explored  the  mys- 
terious processes  of  the  world  of  nature,  its  beau- 
tiful adaptations,  its  precise  and  orderly  laws.  She 
was  interested  in  the  welfare  of  all  her  fellow-be- 
ings, ready  to  rejoice  Avith  the  glad,  eager  to  help 
the  down-trodden  and  oppressed  everywhere.  She 
was  interested  in  philosophy  and  pursued  truth  all 
her  days,  calmly,  but  eagerly.  She  found  truths  that 
sustained  her  in  all  the  vicissitudes  of  experience. 
She  had  confidence  in  goodness,  in  its  reality,  its 
permanence,  its  power  to  conquer  evil.  She  h 
confidence  in  love  as  the  supreme  reality. 

She  believed  in  conscientious  work  and  never 
despaired  of  a  cause  because  it  was  unpopular.  She 
had  an  overflowing  sympathy,  broad  as  humanity, 
including  white  and  black,  Greek  and  Armenian, 
bond  and  free.  Her  mind  was  affirmative.  She 
said   "Yes"  more  often  than   she   said  "No."    She 


JULIA  WARD  HOWE  157 

had  faith,  not  opinions  or  dead  beliefs,  but  faith 
— a  faith  which  saw  God  present  in  nature,  present 
in  Providence,  present  in  the  souls  of  men ;  which 
found  Him  in  all  chang^es,  in  all  joys  and  sorrows, 
in  the  immediate  duty  of  the  hour,  in  the  large  vis- 
ions of  the  ages. 

]\Irs.  Howe  enjoyed  all  the  privileges  of  the  abun- 
dant life  while  she  avoided  its  perils.  Many  a 
scholar  there  is  to  whom  knowledge  has  come,  but 
from  whom  wisdom  has  stayed  away,  who  has 
grown  less  human  as  his  learning  increased ;  but 
with  Airs.  Howe  experience  was  always  applied;  it 
was  sacred  as  a  gift  of  God,  and  its  purpose  was  to 
enlarge  serviceableness,  to  multiply  points  of  con- 
tact with  the  needs  of  humanity. 

Her  life  was  abundant  in  friendship  and  in  Dub- 
lic  and  private  honor,  but  she  depended  neither 
upon  praise  nor  blame.  She  was  far  from  insensible 
to  the  admiration  that  surrounded  her,  but  it  never 
spoiled  her.  She  accepted  her  place  in  people's 
hearts  simply  and  naturally,  thankfully  recognized 
her  privileges  and  trusted  the  obligations  they  im- 
posed to  keep  her  from  vainglory.  No  lot  is  too 
rich,  no  gifts  too  abundant  for  a  soul  that  enters 
into  its  privileges  full  of  humility  before  God,  love 
for  humanity  and  deep  desire  of  helpfulness. 

She  lived  always  in  the  inspiration  of  great  con- 
victions and  with  a  happy  trust  in  the  heart  of  the 
universe.  But  her  spiritual  gifts  were  not  luxuries 
for  her  own  use,  but  trusts  for  her  fellowmen.     Iler 


158      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

thought  each  day  was  not  what  the   world   could 
do  for  her,  but  what  she  could  do  for  the  world. 

She  found  the  joy  of  life  in  the  use  of  her  rare  en- 
dowments. Hers  was  the  gift  of  humor.  Many  a 
cloud  was  driven  awa}^  by  the  bright  spirit  of 
laughter.  Hers  was  the  gift  of  bounteous,  all-em- 
bracing hospitality — of  mind  and  heart  and  home. 
She  had  a  real  democracy  of  soul  which  counted 
nothing  human  as  foreign  to  her.  Hers  was  the  gift 
of  interpretation.  She  knew  how  to  turn  sight  into 
insight.  She  could  discover  the  possibilities  of  poe- 
try in  the  meanest  events  and  emergencies.  Hers 
was  the  gift  of  communication,  the  power  of  solv- 
ing and  persuasive  speech.  She  transmitted  that 
which  she  received.  She  could  say  in  her  prayer, 
"The  glory  thou  hast  given  me  I  have  given  to 
them." 

She  found  the  rewards  of  life  in  life  itself,  in  the 
enrichment  of  experience,  the  new  opportunities  of 
attainment  and  service.  Her  good  obtained  was 
only  tidings  of  something  better.  The  richest  joy 
of  her  life  was  the  discovery  of  her  capacity  to 
inspire  and  impart  life. 

Too  often  we  have  been  told  that  the  Cliristian 
life  is  one  of  renunciation  and  self-denial,  the  giving 
up  of  pleasures  or  of  freedom  of  thought  and  action. 
That  was  not  her  way  of  looking  at  things.  The 
Christian  ideal  to  her  was  not  one  of  negation,  b'Jt 
of  appreciation ;  not  of  renunciation,  but  of  the  use 
of  the  gifts  of  God.  Religion  to  her  meant  not  sub- 
traction, but  addition ;  not  diminution  of  power,  but 


TULIA  \\'ARD  HOWE  159 

multiplication  of  freedom  and  power  and  joy.  To 
accept  the  privilege  of  life  with  an  alert  body,  an 
open  mind,  a  sensitive  imagination,  and  a  stead- 
fast will,  that  was  to  her  the  Father's  business  in 
which  she  had  a  partnership. 

I  think  not  onh^  of  the  abundance  of  this  life,  but 
of  its  perfect  poise, — a  quality  which  grows  more 
and  more  beautiful  as  we  tire  of  the  fantastic  and 
one-sided  types  of  character  which  the  world  often 
admires.  Hers  was  not  only  fulness  of  life,  but 
symmetry  of  life.  She  was  expectant  without  im- 
patience, progressive,  but  always  ready  to  wait, 
full  of  confidence,  but  never  arrogant,  serene,  but 
enthusiastic. 

So  much  of  the  noblest  life  disappoints  us  with 
its  partialness.  So  many  people  we  admire  are 
great  only  upon  certain  sides  and  in  other  aspects 
are  comparatively  small.  The  more  do  we  value  a 
human  life  rich  and  full  and  strong  all  around.  Here 
was  life  where  the  length  and  breadth  and  height 
were  equal.  By  length  of  life  I  do  not  mean  its 
mere  duration,  but  the  reaching  on  and  out  of  a 
soul  on  the  lines  of  its  special  powers,  the  impulse 
of  a  life  toward  the  ends  that  it  was  meant  to  serve. 
The  breadth  of  a  life  is  its  outreach  in  human  sym- 
pathy, and  the  height  of  a  life  is  its  reach  upward, 
its  consciousness  of  divine  realities,  its  sense  of 
communion  with  and  commission  from  God.  Length 
without  breadth  may  be  hard  and  narrow ;  breadth 
without  length  may  be  thin  and  shallow;  length 
and   breadth   without   height   may  be   flat   and   un- 


100       EXTEAIPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

profitable.  Here  was  a  soul  which  conceived  dis- 
tinct purposes,  yet  which  found  in  its  earnest  ef- 
forts to  fulfill  its  own  career  the  interpretation  of 
the  careers  of  other  souls  and  the  transfiguration 
of  its  own  experience. 

The  secret  of  her  amazing  vitality  and  widespread 
usefulness  was  that  she  kept  always  in  contact  with 
the  real  and  permanent  sources  of  power.  The  dy- 
namic of  duty  and  faith  and  love  worked  through 
her.  The  subtle  mystery  of  the  life  eternal  flowed 
through  her  nature  and  her  experience  out  into  the 
complicated  mechanism  of  the  life  of  the  world 
about  her. 

With  glad  hearts  we  have  all  remarked  the  ex- 
ceptional vitality  of  her  powers  in  old  age.  That 
meant  simply  that  she  had  begun  to  live  the  eternal 
life  here  and  now,  the  kind  of  life  that  does  not 
decay  or  change,  the  life  which  is  not  merely  future 
existence,  but  present  renewal  in  the  Spirit. 

Not  long  ago  she  said  to  her  beloved  minister, 
Dr.  Ames :  "The  lower  I  drain  the  cup  of  life,  the 
sweeter  it  grows.  All  the  sugar  is  at  the  bottom." 
Her  graceful  verse  repeats  the  same  satisfaction  : 

"I  have  made  a  voyage  upon  a  golden  river, 

'Neath  clouds  of  opal  and  of  amethyst. 
Along  its  banks  bright  shapes  were  moving  ever. 
And   threatening  shadows   melted   into   mist. 

My  journey  nears  its  close :  in  some  still  haven 
My  bark   shall   find   its   anchorage   of    rest, 

When  the  kind  Hand,  which  every  good  has  given, 
Opening  with  wider  grace,  shall  give  the  best." 


THE  DEATH  OF  LINCOLN 

JAMES    A.    GARFIELD 

On  April  15,  1865,  James  A.  Garheld,  from  the  balcony  of 
the  New  York  Custom  House,  quieted  a  mob  frenzied  by  the 
news  of  President  Lincoln's  assassination  by  this  brief  and 
remarkable  utterance : 

"Fellow  citizens :  Clouds  and  darkness  are  around 
Him ;  His  pavilion  is  dark  waters  and  thick  clouds ; 
justice  and  judgment  are  the  establishment  of  His 
throne ;  mercy  and  truth  shall  go  before  His  face ! 

"Fellow  citizens.  God  reigns,  and  the  Government 
at  Washington  lives!" 


161 


THE  BIBLE  AND  PROGRESS 

WOODROW   WILSOX 

Address  of  Hon.  \\  oodrow  Wilson,  Governor  of  New 
Jersey,  in  the  Auditorium,  Denver,  Col.,  on  the  occasion  of 
tlie  tercentenary  celebration  of  the  translation  of  the  Bible 
into  the  English  language,  May  7,  191 1. 

The  thought  that  entered  my  mind  first  as  I  came 
into  this  great  room  this  evening  framed  itself  in  a 
question — AVhy  should  this  great  body  of  people 
have  come  together  upon  this  solemn  night?  There 
is  nothing  here  to  be  seen.  There  is  nothing  delec- 
able  here  to  be  heard.  Why  should  you  run  to- 
gether in  a  great  host  when  all  that  is  to  be  spoken 
of  is  the  histoiy  of  a  familiar  book? 

But  as  I  have  sat  and  looked  upon  this  great 
bod}^  of  people  I  have  thought  of  the  very  suitable 
circumstance  that  here  upon  the  platform  sat  a 
little  group  of  ministers  of  the  gospel  lost  in  this 
great  throng. 

I  say  the  "suitable  circumstance,"  for  I  come  here 
to-night  to  speak  of  the  Bible  as  the  book  of  the 
people,  not  the  book  of  the  minister  of  the  gospel, 
not  the  5=pecial  book  of  the  priest  from  which  to  set 
forth  some  occult,  unknown  doctrine  withheld  from 
the  common  understanding  of  men,  but  a  great  book 
of  revelation — the  people's  book  of  revelation.  For 
it  seems  to  me  that  the  Bible  has  revealed  the  peo- 

163 


164      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

pie  to  themselves.  I  wonder  how  many  persons  in 
this  great  audience  realize  the  significance  for  Eng- 
lish-speaking peoples  of  the  translation  of  the  Bible 
into  the  English  tongue.  Up  to  the  time  of  the 
translation  of  the  Bible  into  English  it  was  a 
book  for  long  ages  withheld  from  the  perusal  of 
the  people  of  other  languages  and  of  other  tongues, 
and  not  a  little  of  the  history  of  liberty  lies 
in  the  circumstance  that  the  moving  sentences  of 
this  book  were  made  familiar  to  the  ears  and  the 
understanding  of  those  peoples  who  have  led  man- 
kind in  exhibiting  the  forms  of  government  and 
the  impulses  of  reform  which  have  made  for  free- 
dom and  for  self-government  among  mankind. 

For  this  is  a  book  which  reveals  men  unto  them- 
selves, not  as  creatures  in  bondage,  not  as  men  un- 
der human  authority,  not  as  those  bidden  to  take 
counsel  and  command  of  any  human  source.  It 
reveals  every  man  to  himself  as  a  distinct  moral 
agent,  responsible  not  to  men,  not  even  to  those 
men  whom  he  has  put  over  him  in  authority,  but 
responsible  through  his  own  conscience  to  his  Lord 
and  Maker.  Whenever  a  man  sees  this  vision  he 
stands  up  a  free  man.  whatever  may  be  the  govern- 
ment under  which  he  lives.  If  he  sees  beyond  the 
circumstances  of  his  own  life. 

I  heard  a  very  eloquent  sermon  to-day  from  an 
honored  gentleman  who  is  with  us  to-night.  He 
was  speaking  upon  the  effect  of  a  knowledge  of  the 
future  life  upon  our  conduct  in  this  life.  And  it 
seemed  to  me  that  as  I  listened  to  him  I  saw  the 


THE  BIBLE  AND  PROGRESS  K!.". 

flames  of  those  fires  rekindled  at  which  the  martyrs 
died — died  forgetful  of  their  pain,  with  praise  and 
thanksgiving  upon  their  lips,  that  they  had  the  op- 
portunity to  render  their  testimony  that  tliis  was 
not  the  life  for  Avhich  they  had  lived,  but  that  there 
was  a  house  builded  in  the  heavens,  not  built  of 
men  but  built  of  God,  to  the  vision  of  which  they 
had  lifted  their  eyes  as  they  passed  through  the 
world,  which  gave  them  courage  to  fear  no  man 
but  to  serve  God.  And  I  thought  that  all  the 
records  of  heroism  of  the  great  things  that  had 
illustrated  human  life  were  summed  up  in  the  power 
of  men  to  see  that  vision. 

Our  present  life,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  a  very 
imperfect  and  disappointing  thing.  We  do  not 
judge  our  own  conduct  in  the  privacy  of  our  own 
closets  by  the  standards  of  expediency  by  which 
we  are  daily  and  hourl}^  governed.  Wq  know  that 
there  is  a  standard  set  for  us  in  the  heavens,  a  stand- 
ard revealed  to  us  in  this  book  which  is  the  fixed  and 
eternal  standard  by  which  we  judge  ourselves,  and 
as  we  read  this  book  it  seems  to  us  that  the  pages  of 
our  own  hearts  are  laid  open  before  us  for  our  own 
perusal.  This  is  the  people's  book  of  revelation,  reve- 
lation of  themselves  not  alone,  but  revelation  of  life 
and  of  peace.  You  know  that  human  life  is  a  con- 
stant struggle.  For  a  man  who  has  lost  the  sense  of 
struggle,   life  has  ceased. 

I  believe  that  my  confidence  in  the  judgment  of 
the  people  in  matters  political  is  based  upon  my 
knowledge  that  the  men  who  are  struggling  are  the 


1G6       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

men  who  know;  that  the  men  who  are  in  the  midst 
of  the  great  effort  to  keep  themselves  steady  in 
the  pressure  and  rush  of  life  are  the  men  who  know 
the  significance  of  the  pressure  and  the  rush  of 
life,  and  that  they,  the  men  on  the  make,  are  the 
men  to  whom  to  go  for  your  judgments  of  what  life 
is  and  what  its  problems  are.  And  in  this  book 
there  is  peace  simply  because  we  read  here  the  ob- 
ject of  the  struggle.  No  man  is  satisfied  with  him- 
self as  the  object  of  the  struggle. 

There  is  a  very  interesting  phrase  that  constantly 
comes  to  our  lips  which  we  perhaps  do  not  often 
enough  interpret  in  its  true  meaning.  We  see 
many  a  young  man  start  out  in  life  with  apparently 
only  this  object  in  view — to  make  name  and  fame 
and  power  for  himself,  and  there  comes  a  time  of 
maturity  and  reflection  when  we  say  of  him,  "He 
has  come  to  himself."  When  may  I  say  that  I 
have  come  to  myself?  Only  when  I  have  come  to 
recognize  my  true  relations  with  the  rest  of  the 
world.  We  speak  of  a  man  losing  himself  in  a 
desert.  If  you  reflect  a  moment  you  will  see  that 
is  the  only  thing  he  has  not  lost.  He  himself  is 
there.  Wliat  he  means  when  he  says  that  he  has 
lost  himself  is  that  he  has  lost  all  the  rest  of  the 
world.  He  has  nothing  to  steer  by.  He  does  not 
know  where  any  human  habitation  lies.  He  does 
not  know  where  any  beaten  path  and  highway  is. 
If  he  could  establish  his  relationship  with  any- 
thing else  in  the  world  he  would  have  found  him- 
self.    I,et  it  serve  as  a  picture. 


THE  BIBLE  AND  PROCxRESS  167 

A  man  has  found  himself  when  he  has  found  his 
relation  to  the  rest  of  the  universe,  and  here  is 
the  book  in  which  those  relations  are  set  forth. 
And  so  when  you  see  a  man  going  along  the  high- 
Avays  of  life  with  his  gaze  lifted  above  the  road, 
lifted  to  the  sloping  ways  in  front  of  him,  then  be 
careful  of  that  man  and  get  out  of  his  way.  He 
knows  the  kingdom  for  which  he  is  bound.  He  has 
seen  the  revelation  of  himself  and  of  his  relations  to 
mankind.  He  has  seen  the  revelations  of  his  rela- 
tion to  God  and  his  Maker  and  therefore  he  has 
seen  his  responsibility  in  the  world.  This  is  the 
revelation  of  life  and  of  peace.  I  do  not  know  that 
peace  lies  in  constant  accommodation.  I  was  once 
asked  if  I  would  take  part  in  a  great  peace  con- 
ference, and  I  said.  "Yes.  if  I  may  speak  in  favor 
of  war" — not  the  war  which  we  seek  to  avoid,  not 
the  senseless  and  useless  and  passionate  shedding 
of  human  blood,  but  the  only  war  that  brings  peace, 
the  war  with  human  passions  and  the  war  with 
human  wrong — the  war  which  is  that  untiring  and 
miending  process  of  reform  from  which  no  man  can 
refrain  and  get  peace. 

No  man  can  sit  down  and  withhold  his  hands 
from  the  warfare  against  wrong  and  get  peace  out 
of  his  acquiescence.  The  most  solid  and  satisfying 
peace  is  that  which  comes  from  this  constant  spirit- 
ual warfare,  and  there  are  times  in  the  history  of 
nations  when  they  must  take  up  the  crude  instru- 
ments of  bloodshed  in  order  to  vindicate  spiritual 
conceptions.     For  liberty  is  a  spiritual  conception, 


168       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

and  when  men  take  up  arms  to  set  other  men  free, 
there  is  something  sacred  and  holy  in  the  warfare. 
I  will  not  cry  "Peace"  so  long  .as  there  is  sin  and 
wrong  in  the  world.  And  this  great  book  does  not 
teach  any  doctrine  of  peace  so  long  as  there  is  sin 
to  be  combatted  and  overcome  in  one's  own  heart 
and  in  the  great  moving  force  of  human  society. 

And  so  it  seems  to  me  that  we  must  look  upon  the 
Bible  as  the  great  charter  of  the  human  soul — as  the 
"Magna  Charta"  of  the  human  soul.  You  know  the 
interesting  circumstances  which  gave  rise  to  the 
Magna  Charta.  You  know  the  moving  scene  that 
Avas  enacted  upon  the  heath  at  Runnymede.  You 
know  how  the  barons  of  England,  representing  the 
people  of  England— for  they  consciously  represented 
the  people  of  England — met  upon  that  historic  spot 
and  parleyed  with  John  the  king.  They  said :  "We 
will  come  to  terms  with  you  here."  They  said : 
"There  are  certain  inalienable  rights  of  English- 
speaking  men  which  you  must  observe.  They  are 
not  given  by  you,  they  cannot  be  taken  away  by 
you.  vSign  your  name  here  to  this  parchment  up^n 
which  these  rights  are  written  and  we  are  )^our 
subjects.  Refuse  to  put  your  name  to  this  docu- 
ment and  we  are  your  sworn  enemies.  Here  are 
our  swords  to  prove  it." 

The  franchises  of  human  liberty  made  the  basis 
of  a  bargain  with  a  king!  There  are  kings  upon 
the  pages  of  Scripture,  but  do  you  think  of  any 
king  in  Scripture  as  anything  else  than  a  mere  man? 
There  was  the  great  King  David,  of  a  line  blessed 


THE  BIBLE  AND  PROGRESS  169 

because  the  line  from  which  should  spring  our  Lord 
and  Saviour,  a  man  marked  in  the  history  of  man- 
kind as  the  chosen  instrument  of  God  to  do  justice 
and  exalt  righteousness  in  the  people. 

But  what  does  this  Bible  do  for  David?  Does  it 
utter  eulogies  upon  him?  Does  it  conceal  his  faults 
and  magnify  his  virtues?  Does  it  set  him  up  as  a 
great  statesman  would  be  set  up  in  a  modern  bi- 
ography? No,  the  book  in  which  his  annals  are 
written  strips  the  mask  from  David,  strips  every 
shred  of  counterfeit  and  concealment  from  him  and 
shows  him  as  indeed  an  instrument  of  God,  but  a 
sinful  and  selfish  man,  and  the  verdict  of  the  Bible 
is  that  David,  like  other  men,  was  one  day  to  stand 
naked  before  the  judgment  seat  of  God  and  be 
judged  not  as  a  king,  but  as  a  man.  Isn't  this  the 
book  of  the  people?  Is  there  any  man  in  this  Holy 
Scripture  who  is  exempted  from  the  common  stand- 
ard and  judgment  ?  How  these  pages  teem  with  the 
masses  of  mankind !  Are  these  the  annals  of  the 
great?  These  are  the  annals  of  the  people — of  the 
common  run  of  men. 

The  New  Testament  is  the  history  of  the  life  and 
the  testimony  of  common  men  who  rallied  to  the 
fellowship  of  Jesus  Christ  and  who  by  their  faith 
and  preaching  remade  a  world  that  was  under  the 
thrall  of  the  Roman  army.  This  is  the  history  of 
the  triumph  of  the  human  spirit  in  the  persons  of 
Inimble  men.  And  how  many  sorts  of  men  march 
across  the  pages,  how  infinite  is  the  variety  of 
human  circumstance  and  of  human  dealings  and  of 


170       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

human  heroism  and  love!  Is  this  a  picture  of  ex- 
traordinary things?  This  is  a  picture  of  the  com- 
mon life  of  mankind.  It  is  a  mirror  held  up  for 
men's  hearts,  and  it  is  in  this  mirror  that  we  marvel 
to  see  ourselves  portraj'ed. 

How  like  to  the  Scripture  is  all  great  literature! 
What  is  it  that  entrances  us  when  we  read  or  wit- 
ness a  play  of  Shakespeare?  It  is  the  consciousness 
that  this  man,  this  all-observing  mind,  saw  men  of 
every  cast  and  kind  as  they  were  in  their  habits  as 
they  lived.  And  as  passage  succeeds  passage  we 
seem  to  see  the  characters  of  ourselves  and  our 
friends  portrayed  by  this  ancient  writer,  and  a  play 
of  Shakespeare  is  just  as  modern  to-day  as  upon 
the  day  it  was  penned  and  first  enacted.  And  the 
Bible  is  without  age  or  date  or  time.  It  is  a  pic- 
ture of  the  human  heart  displayed  for  all  ages  and 
for  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  Moreover,  the 
Bible  does  what  is  so  invaluable  in  human  life — it 
classifies  moral  values.  It  apprises  us  that  men 
are  not  judged  according  to  their  wits,  but  accord- 
ing to  their  characters. 

That  the  last  of  every  man's  reputation  is  his 
truthfulness,  his  squaring  his  conduct  with  the 
standards  that  he  knew  to  be  the  standards  of 
purity  and  rectitude. 

How  many  a  man  we  appraise,  ladies  and  gentle- 
men, as  great  to-day  whom  we  do  not  admire  as 
noble!  A  man  may  have  great  power  and  small 
character.  And  the  sweet  praise  of  mankind  lies 
not  in  their  admiration  of  the  smartness  with  which 


THE  BIBLE  AND  PROGRESS  171 

the  thing  was  accomplished,  but  in  that  lingering 
love  which  apprises  men  that  one  of  their  fellows 
has  gone  out  of  life  to  his  own  reckoning,  where 
he  is  sure  of  the  blessed  verdict :  "Well  done,  good 
and  faithful  servant." 

Did  yoti  ever  look  al)out  you  in  any  great  city,  in 
any  great  capitol,  at  the  statues  which  have  been 
erected  in  it?  To  whom  are  these  statues  erected? 
Are  they  erected  to  the  men  who  have  piled  for- 
tunes about  them?  I  do  not  know  of  any  such 
statue  anywhere  unless  after  he  had  accumulated 
his  fortune  the  man  bestowed  it  in  beneficence  upon 
his  fellowmen  and  alongside  of  him  will  stand  a 
statue  of  another  meaning,  for  it  is  easy  to  give 
money  away.  I  heard  a  friend  of  mine  say  that  the 
standard  of  generosity  was  not  the  amount  yoit 
gave  away,  but  the  amount  you  had  left.  It  is  easy 
to  give  away  of  your  abundance,  but  look  at  the 
next  statue,  the  next  statue  and  the  next  in  the 
market-place  of  great  cities  and  whom  will  you 
see?  You  will  see  here  a  soldier  who  gave  his  life 
to  serve,  not  his  own  ends,  but  the  interests  and 
the  purposes  of  his  country. 

I  would  be  the  last,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  to  dis- 
parage any  of  the  ordinary  occupations  of  life,  but 
I  want  to  ask  you  this  question  :  Did  you  ever  see 
anybody  who  had  lost  a  son  hang  up  his  yardstick 
over  the  mantel-piece?  Have  you  not  seen  many 
families  who  had  lost  their  sons  hang  up  their  mus- 
kets and  their  swords  over  the  mantel-piece?  What 
is    the    difference    between    the    yardstick    and    the 


172       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

musket  ?  There  is  nothing  but  perfect  honor  in  the 
use  of  the  yardstick,  but  the  yardstick  was  used  for 
the  man's  own  interest,  for  his  own  self-support. 
It  was  used  merely  to  fulfil  the  necessary  exigencies 
of  life,  whereas  the  musket  was  used  to  serve  no 
possible  purpose  of  his  own.  He  took  every  risk 
without  any  possibility  of  profit.  The  musket  is  the 
symbol  of  self-sacrifice  and  the  yardstick  is  not. 
A  man  will  instinctively  elevate  the  one  as  the 
symbol  of  honor  and  never  dream  of  using  the  other 
as  a  symbol  of  distinction. 

Doesn't  that  cut  pretty  deep,  and  don't  you  know 
why  the  soldier  has  his  monument  as  against  the 
civilian's  ?  The  civilian  may  have  served  his  State — 
he  also — and  here  and  there  you  may  see  a  states- 
man's statue,  but  the  civilian  has  generally  served 
his  country — has  often  served  his  country,  at  any 
rate — with  some  idea  of  promoting  his  own  inter- 
ests, whereas  the  soldier  has  everything  to  lose  and 
nothing  but  the  gratitude  of  his  fellowmen  to  win. 

Let  every  man  pray  that  he  may  in  some  true 
sense  be  a  soldier  of  fortune,  that  he  may  have 
the  good  fortune  to  spend  his  energies  and  his  life 
in  the  service  of  his  fellowmen  in  order  that  he  may 
die  to  be  recorded  upon  the  rolls  of  those  who  have 
not  thought  of  themselves  but  have  thought  of  those 
whom  they  served.  Isn't  this  the  lesson  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ?  Am  I  not  reminding 
you  of  these  common  judgments  of  our  life,  simply 
expounding  to  you  this  book  of  revelation,  this 
book  which  reveals  the  common  man  to  himself, 


THE  BIBLE  AND  PROGRESS  173 

which  strips  life  of  its  disguises  and  its  pretences 
and  elevates  those  standards  by  which  alone  true 
greatness  and  true  strength  and  true  valor  are 
assessed? 

Do  you  wonder,  therefore,  that  when  I  was  asked 
what  my  theme  this  evening  would  be  I  said  it 
would  be  "The  Bible  and  Progress"?  We  do  not 
judge  progress  by  material  standards.  America 
is  not  ahead  of  the  other  nations  of  the  world  be- 
cause she  is  rich.  Nothing  makes  America  great 
except  her  thoughts,  except  her  ideals,  except  her 
acceptance  of  those  standards  of  judgment  which 
are  written  large  upon  these  pages  of  revelation. 
America  has  all  along  claimed  the  distinction  of 
setting  this  example  to  the  civilized  world — that 
men  were  to  think  of  one  another,  that  governments 
were  to  be  set  up  for  the  service  of  the  people,  that 
men  were  to  be  judged  by  these  moral  standards 
which  pay  no  regard  to  rank  or  birth  or  conditions, 
but  which  assess  every  man  according  to  his  single 
and  individual  value.  This  is  the  meaning  of  this 
charter  of  the  human  soul.  This  is  the  standard  by 
which  men  and  nations  have  more  and  more  come 
to  be  judged.  And  so  the  form  has  consisted  in 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  this — in  trying  to  con- 
form actual  conditions,  in  trying  to  square  actual 
laws  with  the  right  judgments  of  human  conduct 
and  more  than  liberty. 

That  is  the  reason  that  the  Bible  has  stood  at  the 
back  of  progress.  That  is  the  reason  that  reform 
has  come  not  from  the  top  but  from  the  bottom. 


174      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

If  you  are  ever  tempted  to  let  a  government  reform 
itself,  I  ask  you  to'look  back  in  the  pages  of  history 
and  find  me  a  government  that  reformed  itself.  If 
you  are  ever  tempted  to  let  a 'party  attempt  to  re- 
form itself  I  ask  you  to  find  a  party  that  ever  re- 
formed itself. 

A  tree  is  not  nourished  by  its  bloom  and  by  its 
fruit.  It  is  nourished  by  its  roots,  which  are  down 
deep  in  the  common  and  hidden  soil,  and  every  pro- 
cess of  purification  and  rectification  comes  from  the 
bottom — not  from  the  top.  It  comes  from  the 
masses  of  struggling  human  beings,  It  conies  from 
the  instinctive  efforts  of  millions  of  human  hearts 
trying  to  beat  their  way  up  into  the  light  and 
into  the  hope  of  the  future. 

Parties  are  reformed  and  governments  are  cor- 
rected by  the  impulses  coming  out  of  the  hearts  of 
those  who  never  exercised  authority  and  never  or- 
ganized parties.  Those  are  the  sources  of  strength, 
and  I  pray  God  that  these  sources  may  never  cease 
to  be  spiritualized  by  the  immortal  subjections  of 
these  words  of  inspiration  of  the  Bible. 

If  any  statesman  sunk  in  the  practices  which  de- 
base a  nation  will  but  read  this  single  book  he  will 
go  to  his  prayers  abashed.  Do  you  not  realize, 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  there  is  a  whole  litera- 
ture in  the  Bible?  It  is  not  one  book,  but  a  score  of 
books.  Do  you  realize  what  literature  is?  I  am 
sometimes  sorry  to  see  the  great  classics  of  our 
English  literature  used  in  the  schools  as  text-books, 
because  I  am  afraid  that  little  children  may  gain 


THE  BIBLE  AND  PEIOGRESS  Ko 

the  impression  that  these  are  tonna!  lessons  to  be 
learned.  There  is  no  great  book  in  any  language, 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  is  not  the  spontaneous 
outpouring  of  some  great  mind  or  the  cry  of  some 
great  heart.  And  the  reason  that  poetry  moves  us 
more  than  prose  does  is  that  it  is  the  rhythmic  and 
passionate  voice  of  some  great  spirit  that  has  seen 
more  than  his  fellowmen  can  see. 

I  have  found  more  true  politics  in  the  poets  of 
the  English-speaking  race  than  I  have  ever  found 
in  all  the  formal  treatises  on  political  science.  There 
is  more  of  the  spirit  of  our  own  institutions  in  a 
few  lines  of  Tennyson  than  in  all  the  text-books  on 
government  put  together : 

"A  nation  still,  the  rulers  and  the  ruled, 
Some  sense  of  duty,  something  of  a  faith, 
Some  reverence  for  the  laws  ourselves  have  made, 
Some  patient  force  to  change  them  when  we  will, 
Some  civic    manhood    firm    against    the    crowd." 

Can  you  find  summed  up  the  manly,  self-helping 
spirit  of  Saxon  liberty  anywhere  better  than  in  those 
few  lines?  Men  afraid  of  nobody,  afraid  of  nothing 
Imt  their  own  passions,  on  guard  against  being 
caught  unaware  by  their  own  sudden  impulses  and 
so  getting  their  grapple  upon  life  in  firm-set  insti- 
tutions, some  reverence  for  the  laws  themselves 
have  made,  some  patience,  not  passionate  force,  to 
change  them  when  they  will,  some  civic  manhood 
firm  against  the  crowd.  Literature,  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen, is  revelation  of  the  human  spirit,  and  within 
the  covers  of  this  one  book  is  a  whole  lot  of  litera- 


176      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

ture,  prose  and  poetry,  history  and  rhapsody,  the 
sober  narration  of  the  ecstasy  of  human  excitement — 
things  that  ring  in  one's  ears  like  songs  never  to  be 
forgotten.  And  so  I  say,  let  us  never  forget  that 
these  deep  sources,  these  wells  of  inspiration, 
must  always  be  our  sources  of  refreshment  and  of  re- 
newal. Then  no  man  can  put  unjust  power  upon 
us.  We  shall  live  in  that  chartered  liberty  in  which 
a  man  sees  the  things  unseen,  in  which  he  knows 
that  he  is  bound  for  a  country  in  which  there  are  no 
questions  mooted  any  longer  of  right  or  wrong. 
Can  you  imagine  a  man  who  did  not  believe  these 
words,  who  did  not  believe  in  the  future  life,  stand- 
ing up  and  doing  what  has  been  the  heart  and  cen- 
ter of  libert}^  always — standing  up  before  the  king 
himself  and  saying,  "Sir,  you  have  sinned  and  done 
wrong  in  the  sight  of  God  and  I  am  his  messenger 
of  judgment  to  pronounce  upon  you  the  condemna- 
tion of  Almighty  God.  You  may  silence  me,  you 
may  send  me  to  my  reckoning  with  my  Maker,  but 
you  cannot  silence  or  reverse  the  judgment."  That 
is  what  a  man  feels  whose  faith  is  rooted  in  the 
Bible.  And  the  man  whose  faith  is  rooted  in  the 
Bible  knows  that  reform  cannot  be  stayed,  that  the 
finger  of  God  that  moves  upon  the  face  of  the  na- 
tions is  against  every  man  that  plots  the  nation's 
downfall  or  the  people's  deceit ;  that  these  men  are 
simply  groping  and  staggering  in  their  ignorance 
to  a  fearful  day  of  judgment  and  that  whether  one 
generation  witnesses  it  or  not,  the  glad  day  of  reve- 
lation and  of  freedom  will  come  in  which  men  will 


THE  BIBLE  AND  PROGRESS  177 

sing  by  the  host  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord  in  His 
glory,  and  all  of  those  will  be  forgotten,  those  little, 
scheming,  contemptible  creatures  that  forgot  the 
.image  of  God  and  tried  to  frame  men  according 
to  the  image  of  the  Evil  One. 

You  may  remember  that  allegorical  narrative  in 
the  Old  Testament  of  those  who  searched  through 
one  cavern  after  another  cutting  the  holes  in  the 
walls  and  going  into  the  secret  places  where  all 
sorts  of  noisome  things  were  worshipped.  Men  do 
not  dare  to  let  the  sun  shine  in  upon  such  things 
and  upon  such  occupations  and  worship.  And  so  I 
say  there  will  be  no  halt  to  the  great  movement  of 
the  armies  of  reform  until  men  forget  their  God, 
until  the}^  forget  this  charter  of  their  liberty.  Let 
no  man  suppose  that  progress  can  be  divorced  from 
religion,  or  that  there  is  an}^  other  platform  for  the 
ministers  of  reform  than  the  platform  written  in  the 
utterances  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour. 

America  was  born  a  Christian  nation.  America 
was  born  to  exemplify  that  devotion  to  the  ele- 
ments of  righteousness  which  are  derived  from  the 
revelations  of  Holy  Scripture. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  have  a  very  simple  thing 
to  ask  of  you.  I  ask  of  every  man  and  woman  in 
this  audience  that  from  this  night  on  they  will 
realize  that  part  of  the  destiny  of  America  lies  in 
their  daily  perusal  of  this  great  book  of  revelations 
— that  if  they  would  see  America  free  and  pure  they 
will  make  their  own  spirits  free  and  pure  by  this 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Scripture. 


INTERNATIONAL  CONCILIATION 

NICHOLAS    MURRAY    BUTLER 

Excerpts  from  opening  address  of  Nicholas  Murray  Butler, 
the  presiding  officer  at  the  Lake  Mohonk  Conference  on 
International  Arbitration,  1910. 

No  well-informed  observer  is  likely  to  deny  that 
the  cause  which  this  conference  is  assembled  to 
promote  has  made  important  progress  during  the 
past  year.  The  several  striking  incidents  which 
mark  that  progress — including,  in  particular,  the 
identic  circular  note  of  Secretary  Knox  bearing  date 
October  1<S,  1909.  proposing  the  investment  of  the 
International  Prize  Court  with  the  functions  of  a 
court  of  arbitral  justice,  and  the  hearty  approval 
which  the  proposal  has  met;  the  puljlic  declaration 
of  President  Taft,  made  in  New  York  on  March  22, 
1910,  that  there  are  no  questions  involving  the  honor 
or  the  interests  of  a  civilized  nation  which  it  may 
not  with  propriety  submit  to  judicial  determination ; 
the  action  of  the  Congress  in  making  an  appropria- 
tion for  the  Bureau  of  the  Interparliamentary  Union 
for  the  Promotion  of  International  arbitration,  thus 
committing  the  United  States  Government  officially 
to  that  admirable  undertaking;  and,  finally,  the 
forthcoming  submission  to  the  arbitral  tribunal  at 
The  Hague  of  the  century-old  controversy  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  as  to  the  New- 

179 


180      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

foundland  fisheries — all  these  will  be  fully  recounted 
here  in  the  course  of  our  present  meeting.  To  those 
who  are  impatient  for  the  attainment  of  our  ideal 
we  can  only  say  that  progress  toward  it  is  steadily 
making  and  that  the  chief  forces  now  at  work  in 
the  world,  political,  economic,  and  ethical,  are  co- 
operating with  us  to  bring  about  its  attainment.  To 
those  who  fear  that  we  may  make  progress  too  fast 
and  that  some  measure  of  national  security  will  be 
sacrificed  in  pushing  forward  to  establish  inter- 
national justice,  we  can  only  say  that  justice  is  itself 
the  one  real  and  continuing  ground  of  security  for 
both  men  and  nations,  and  that  heretofore  in  the 
history  of  mankind  the  devil  has  always  been  able 
to  take  care  of  his  own  cause  without  the  necessary 
aid  and  comfort  of  the  forces  in  the  world  that  are 
aiming  at  the  overthrow  of  the  rule  of  any  power 

but  right 

There  is  a  type  of  citizen  who  must  be  mentioned, 
because  the  type  is  numerous,  influential,  and  im- 
portant. This  is  the  type  which  holds  the  view  that, 
of  course,  international  arbitration  is  a  thing  greatly 
to  be  desired ;  of  course,  we  must  all  hope  for  the 
day  when  that  at  present  distant,  impracticable, 
and  wholly  praiseworthy  ideal  shall  be  reached; 
but  that,  until  that  day — which  is  probably  to  be 
the  Greek  Kalends — we  must  continue  to  tax  our 
great  modern  industrial  nations,  struggling  as  they 
are  under  the  burdens  of  popular  education,  and 
of  economic  and  social  betterment,  in  order  that 
death-dealing   instrumentalities   may   be   increased 


INTERNATIONAL  CONCILIATION     181 

and  multiplied,  and  the  several  nations  thereby- 
protected  from  invasion  and  attack.  This  procedure, 
so  the  curious  argument  runs,  is  to  hasten  the  com- 
ing of  international  arbitration  and  to  promote  it. 
Civilized  men,  it  appears,  are  to  be  shot  or  starved 
into  agreeing  to  arbitrate. 

This  point  of  view  requires  for  adequate  treat- 
ment not  the  argurhents  of  a  logician,  but  the 
pencil  of  a  Tenniel  or  the  caustic  wit  of  a  Mr. 
Dooley.  Look  at  the  situation  in  the  world  to-day 
as  this  type  of  man  presents  it  to  us.  Of  course,  the 
United  States  is  a  peaceful  nation ;  of  course.  Great 
Britain  is  a  peaceful  nation ;  of  course,  Germany 
and  France  and  Japan  are  peaceful  nations ;  but, 
therefore,  because  they  propose  to  attack  nobody 
they  must  so  strengthen  their  defenses,  so  multiply 
their  navies,  and  increase  their  armies  that  nobody 
can  successfully  attack  them.  Who,  pray,  is  left 
to  attack  these  peaceful  and  law-abiding  nations  if, 
as  we  are  assured  by  everybody — both  leaders  of 
governments,  the  moulders  of  public  opinion  and 
the  substantially  unanimous  press  of  the  world — 
they  do  not  propose  to  attack  each  other,  unless  it 
Ije  an  army  of  white  bears  from  the  newly-discov- 
ered North  Pole  or  a  procession  of  elephants  and 
camelopards  from  the  jungles  of  Central  Africa? 
The  gullibility  of  mankind  was  never  more  con- 
clusively demonstrated  than  by  the  widespread 
acceptance  of  this  huge  joke,  which,  unlike  most 
other  jokes,  has  to  be  paid  for  at  a  literally  stu- 
pendous price.     Children  must  go  untaught,  sani- 


183       EXTEMPORANEOUvS  SPEAKING 

tary  inspection  and  regulation  must  go  unprovided, 
better  workingmen's  dwellings  must  be  postponed, 
provisions  for  recreation  and  enlightenment  must 
be  put  off,  conditions  accompanying  labor,  poverty 
and  old  age  must  go  indefinitely  without  ameliora- 
tion, in  order  that  in  this  twentieth  century  men 
and  nations,  who,  looking  in  the  glass,  call  them- 
selves intelligent  and  practical,  may  support,  main- 
tain, and  propagate  this  stupendous  joke!  Either 
the  whole  world  is  being  deluded  by  a  witticism  of 
cosmic  proportions  or  some  important  persons  are 
conspiring  to  tell  an  awful  lie. 

One  of  the  earliest  questions  recorded  in  history 
is  the  petulant  query  of  Cain,  "Am  I  my  brother's 
keeper?"  On  the  answer  to  this  question  all  civili- 
zation depends.  If  man  is  not  his  brother's  keeper, 
if  he  may  slay  and  rob  and  ravage  at  will  for  his 
own  advantage,  whether  that  be  personal  or  na- 
tional, then  civilization  becomes  quite  impossible. 
It  is  vain  to  attempt  to  divert  us  by  analogies  drawn 
from  the  past  history  of  the  race.  Mankind  has  been 
climbing  upward  and  neither  standing  on  a  level 
nor  going  down  hill.  Acts,  policies  and  events 
which  are  easily  explainable  and  in  large  part  de- 
fensible in  other  days  and  under  other  conditions 
are  neither  explainable  nor  defensible  now.  The 
twentieth  century  cannot  afford  to  receive  its  les- 
sons in  morals,  whether  personal  or  national,  from 
the  fifteenth  or  the  sixteenth.  We  are  our  brothers' 
keepers  and  they  are  ours.  The  whole  world  has 
become  a  brotherhood  of  fellow-citizens.    The  bar- 


INTERNATIONAL  CONCILIATION     18:3 

riers  of  language  are  slowly  breaking  down  ;  wars  of 
religion  are  almost  unheard  of;  distance  in  space 
and  time  has  been  practically  annihilated  by  steam 
and  electricity ;  trade  is  as  easy  today  between  New 
York  and  Calcutta  or  between  London  and  Hong 
Kong  as  it  once  was  between  two  neighboring  shops 
in  the  bazaars  of  Damascus  on  either  side  of  the 
street  called  Straight.  What  possible  reason  is  there 
why  the  fundamental  principles  which  civilization 
applies  to  the  settlement  of  differences  between  in- 
dividuals cannot  now  be  applied  to  the  settlement 
of  differences  between  nations? 

The  United  States  has  done  so  much  to  educate 
world  opinion  in  the  past  century  and  a  half  that 
we  may  well  be  ambitious  for  it  to  do  still  more. 
\\'e  have  shown  that  to  all  appearances  a  federal 
form  of  government,  extended  over  a  wide  area  and 
embracing  many  competing  and  sometimes  conflict- 
ing interests,  is  practicable,  and  that  it  can  survive 
even  the  severe  shock  of  civil  war.  We  have  shown 
that  under  the  guidance  of  a  written  constitution, 
judicially  interpreted,  there  is  room  for  national 
growth  and  expansion,  for  stupendous  economic 
development,  for  absorption  into  the  body  politic 
of  large  numbers  of  foreign  born,  and  for  the  preser- 
vation of  civil  liberty  over  a  considerable  period  of 
time.  Suppose  now  that  during  the  next  few 
decades  it  might  be  given  to  us  to  lead  the  way  in 
demonstrating  to  the  world  that  great  sovereign 
nations,  like  federated  states,  may  live  and  grow 
and   do   business   together   in   harmony  and    unity, 


184       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

without  strife  or  armed  conflict,  through  the  habit 
of  submitting  to  judicial  determination  all  ques- 
tions of  difference  as  they  may  arise,  the  judicial 
decree  when  made  to  be  supported  and  enforced 
— after  the  fashion  in  which  judicial  decrees  are 
everywhere  supported  and  enforced — by  intelligent 
public  opinion  and  by  an  international  and  neutral 
police.  Might  we  not  then  be  justified  in  believing 
that  the  place  of  our  beloved  country  in  history  was 
secure? 

What  more  splendid  foundation  could  there  be 
upon  which  to  build  an  enduring  monument  to  the 
American  people  than  their  guarantee  and  preserva- 
tion of  civil  liberty,  together  with  national  develop- 
ment at  home,  and  their  leadership  in  establishing 
the  world's  peace,  together  with  international  de- 
velopment all  around  the  globe?  Dare  we  leave 
anything  undone  to  put  our  own  land  in  the  place 
of  highest  honor  by  reason  of  its  contribution  to 
the  establishment  of  the  world's  peace  and  order 
and  happiness  through  the  rule  of  justice — a  rule 
accepted  because  it  is  just  and  bowed  down  to  be- 
cause it  is  right?  What  picture  of  glory  and  of 
honor  has  the  advocate  of  brute  force  to  offer  us 
in  exchange  for  this? 

The  great  movement  in  which  we  are  engaged 
is  all  part  and  parcel  of  a  new  way  of  life.  It  means 
that  we  must  enter  with  fulness  of  appreciation  into 
the  activities  and  interests  of  peoples  other  than 
ourselves ;  that  we  must  always  and  everywhere 
emulate  the  best  they  have  to  teach  us  and  shun 


INTERNATIONAL  CONCILIATION     185 

the  worst ;  that  we  must  answer  in  no  uncertain 
tones  that  we  are  our  brothers'  keepers ;  and  that, 
as  with  men  so  with  nations,  the  path  of  justice,  of 
integrity,  and  of  fair  dealing  is  the  true  path  of 
honor.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  we  Americans  tread 
steadily  in  it. 


FUTURE   IN   CHEMISTRY 

WILDER    D.    BANCROFT 

An  address  by  Professor  Wilder  D.  Bancroft  at  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  Chemistry  Building  of  the  College  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  May  14,  1908. 

The  future  in  chemistry !  No  two  people  agree 
as  to  what  the  future  development  of  chemistry  is 
to  be,  and  it  is  probable  that  any  one  man  would 
give  you  a  different  answer  if  the  question  were 
put  to  him  at  an  interval  of  five  years.  Depending 
on  whom  you  ask,  you  will  be  told  that  the  really 
important  thing  is  organic  chemistry,  inorganic 
chemistry,  ph^^sical  chemistry,  electrochemistry, 
photochemistry,  physiological  chemistry,  indus- 
trial chemistry,  or  what  not.  I  could  even  name 
one  man  who  has  believed  all  these .  things  at 
one  time  or  another.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  pre- 
dictions like  these  are  the  results  of  opinion  that 
exists.  The  same  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  what  is 
fundamentally  important  appears  very  clearly  when 
we  remember  that  the  Carnegie  Institution  is  not 
making  any  large  grant  to  chemistry,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  the  chemists  of  the  country  cannot 
agree  as  to  what  problem  or  group  of  problems 
should  be  attacked.  My  task  to-day  is  to  point  out 
to  you  what  the  real  future  of  chemistry  will  be  and 

187 


188      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

to  make  you  see  that  my  prophecy  is  the  one  that 
will  come  true. 

We  shall  reach  our  goal  most  quickly  by  what  is 
at  first  sight  an  indirect  way.  At  the  dedication  of 
a  chemical,  physical,  engineering,  geological,  bio- 
logical, or  medical  laboratory,  it  is  customary  to 
have  addresses,  even  as  now ;  and  it  is  the  orthodox 
thing  to  say  the  most  important  of  all  the  sciences 
is  the  science  to  be  studied  in  that  laboratory, 
whether  it  be  chemistry,  physics,  engineering, 
geology,  biology,  medicine,  or  something  else.  I 
sympathize  fully  with  the  practice  and  I  intend  to 
do  the  same  thing  myself  to-day.  You  will  admit, 
however,  that  the  people  who  make  addresses  of 
this  type  at  the  dedication  of  laboratories  cannot 
all  be  right  when  they  talk  like  that.  Some  of  them 
must  be  exaggerating  just  a  little,  and  in  order  to 
acquit  the  chemist  of  any  such  a  charge,  we  must 
first  consider  the  relation  of  chemistry  to  the  other 
sciences. 

We  will  define  chemistry  as  a  study  of  all  prop- 
erties and  changes  of  matter  depending  on  the 
nature  of  the  substances  concerned.  This  definition 
is  wider  than  the  usual  one.  It  is  one  that  I  have 
used  for  years,  and  it  is  one  which  Sir  William 
Ramsay  suggested  but  did  not  make  in  his  "Intro- 
duction to  the  Study  of  Physical  Chemistry."  It 
follows  from  this  definition  that  physics  is  a  sub- 
division of  chemistry;  an  important  and  interesting 
subdivison,  it  is  true,  but  only  a  subdivision.  Chem- 
istry includes  all  of  what  is  known  as  physics  except 


FUTURE  IN  CHEMISTRY  189 

the  law  of  gravitation,  the  laws  of  motion,  and  a 
few  other  abstract  formulations.  Everything  else 
that  gives  life  and  interest  to  physics  is  chemistry 
pure  and  simple.  I  admit  that  this  point  of  view  is 
not  popular  among  my  colleagues,  the  physicists, 
but  their  obejctions  are  natural  enough  without 
being  valid.  Physics  was  a  flourishing  science  at 
the  time  when  chemistry,  in  the  narrower  sense  of 
the  word,  was  of  very  little  importance.  In  the 
case  of  anything  that  is  expanding  and  developing, 
it  seems  to  me  axiomatic  that  you  must  have  the 
part  before  we  have  the  whole,  and  that  in  the 
first  stages  the  part  will  seem  the  whole.  In  1600 
the  men  of  Great  Britain  were  the  whole  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race.  To-day  they  are  only  a  part 
of  it;  an  important  part,  it  is  true,  but  only  a  part. 
Let  us  try  another  illustration.  As  children  we 
were  told  that  "great  oaks  from  little  acorns  grow." 
If  you  only  have  the  acorn,  of  course,  it  is  the  im- 
portant thing;  but  later  one  sees  that  the  acorn  is 
merely  an  interesting  subdivision  or  product  of  the 
oak,  and  that  is  all  it  is.  We  may,  therefore,  class 
physics  as  a  subdivision  of  chemistry. 

When  we  come  to  engineering,  it  is  clear  that  we 
are  dealing  with  applied  chemistry.  If  it  were  not 
for  the  specific  properties  of  iron,  copper,  concrete, 
brick,  etc.,  and  of  all  the  other  materials  of  engineer- 
ing, there  would  be  no  such  subject  as  engineering. 
Speaking  in  a  broad  sense  we  may  say  that  engineer- 
ing is  the  art  of  making  the  structural  properties  of 
matter  useful  to  man. 


190      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

Geology  is  the  study  of  the  chemistry  of  the 
earth.  This  has  been  recognized  for  a  long  time, 
and  though  we  speak  of  the  Geophysical  Laboratory 
at  Washington,  its  work  is  geochemical  in  fact, 
though  not  in  name. 

In  biology  of  the  present  and  future  we  are  in- 
terested in  the  chemical  changes  in  the  living  organ- 
isms due  to  heredity  and  environment.  Growth  is 
a  chemical  change.  The  internal  and  external  struc- 
tures of  plants  and  animals  are  the  result  of  a  series 
of  chemical  changes.  After  the  first  stage  of  identi- 
fication, enumeration,  and  classification  has  been 
passed,  the  interests  of  the  biologist  are  essentially 
chemxical,  and  the  quality  of  his  work  is  likely  to  in- 
crease as  his  methods  become  chemical.  The  work 
of  Loeb  in  California  is  a  striking  instance  of  what 
may  happen  when  a  biologist  realizes  that  his  sub- 
ject is  a  subdivision  of  chemistry. 

In  curative  medicine  we  are  dealing  largely  with 
the  action  of  drugs.  In  preventive  medicine  we  are 
dealing  with  inoculations,  diet,  exercise,  and  fresh 
air.  In  the  first  case  we  are  checking  and  eliminat- 
ing an  abnormal  process,  sickness,  by  the  action  of 
one  set  of  chemicals  on  the  system.  In  the  second 
case  we  are  preventing  the  occurrence  of  a  disturb- 
ing chemical  process,  sickness,  by  the  action  of 
another  set  of  chemicals  on  the  system.  Owing  to 
the  difiiculties  involved  and  to  the  number  of  vari- 
ables concerned,  our  knowledge  of  the  chemistry  of 
medicine  is  not  yet  what  it  should  be ;  but  it  is  clear 
that  real  progress  will  be  made  just  in  so  far  as  we 


FUTURE  TX  CHE^nSTRY  191 

study  physiology  and  medicine  as  subdivisions  of 
chemistry.  I  cite  as  an  instance  the  brilliant  work 
of  Arrhenius  in  the  field  of  immuno-chemistry. 

I  have  tried  to  show  you  that  physics,  engineering, 
geology,  biology,  and  medicine  are  all  subdivisions 
of  chemistry.  My  task  is  over.  The  future  in 
chemistry  will  consist  in  the  change  from  chemistry 
as  a  coordinate  science  to  chemistry  as  the  domi- 
nant science.  With  this  in  mind,  can  you  wonder 
at  the  fascination  which  chemistry  has  for  the 
chemist?  Now  you  will  see  why  I  rejoice  that 
to-day  the  world  is  to  be  the  better  for  a  well- 
equipped  laboratory  in  the  hands  of  a  well-equipped 
staff. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  IS  A  DEMOCRACY 

XICHOLAS    :\[URRAY    Bin^LEll 

An  address  delivered  at  the  installation  of  Edwin  Anderson 
Alderman  as  President  of  the  Uni\ersity  of  X'irgijiia.  April 
13.  1905.  by  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  representing  the  imiver- 
sities  of  the  North. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen, — One  of  the  most  charm- 
ing of  the  shorter  Dialogues  of  Plato  has  for  its 
subject  friendship.  After  subtle  and  amusing  dis- 
cussions, you  will  remember,  Socrates  and  his  two 
young  friends  profess  themselves  unable  to  discover 
what  is  a  friend !  If  fools  may  rush  in  where  angels 
fear  to  tread,  shall  we  not  say  that  intiinate  asso- 
ciation, complete  confidence,  and  mtellectual  sym- 
pathy are  the  sure  bases  of  friendship  between  men? 
Then  are  w^e  met  to-day — some  of  us,  I  know,  many 
of  us,  no  doubt — to  hail  a  friend,  to  bid  him  God- 
speed, and  to  stand  at  his  side  while  he  pul:ilicly 
consecrates  himself  to  the  service  of  an  ideal.  And 
than  that  ideal  there  is  none  loftier  or  more  noble. 
Tt  is  the  service  of  truth  and  of  mankind,  surrounded 
by  all  the  uplift,  all  the  vigor,  and  all  the  oppor- 
tunity of  our  American  democracy. 

The  human  l)rain  has  conceived  no  finer  career 
than  that  offered  by  a  university  in  a  democracy. 
No  longer  do  universities,  however  beautiful  their 
fabric,  content  themselves  with  "whispering  from 

J  93 


194      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

their  towers  the  last  enchantments  of  the  Middle 
Age,"  for  they  must  busily  explain  to  a  new  age 
the  manifold  enchantments  of  its  own  making.  No 
longer  do  universities,  however  ancient  their  tradi- 
tions, carefully  shun  the  practical,  for  they  must 
ceaselessl}^  teach  that  the  truly  practical  is  but  the 
embodiment  of  those  everlasting  principles  which 
have  been  since  the  world  began.  The  shackles, 
too,  are  gone — the  shackles  theologic,  the  shackles 
philosophic,  the  shackles  scientific.  The  truth  has 
made  us  free. 

Our  political  liberty  and  our  university  freedom 
grew  up  side  by  side.  The  same  promptings  of  the 
spirit  that  brought  to  pass  the  one  gave  us  also 
the  other.  It  is  worth  minding,  too,  that  it  was 
not  blind  passion,  but  untamed  and  reckless  force, 
but  reflective  thought  that  sowed  the  seeds  of  both. 
Moreover,  political  liberty  and  university  freedom 
have  this  in  common — the  making  of  men.  Tyranny 
and  censored  thinking  may  conceivably  make  a 
man  or  two  now  and  then,  but  they  could  never 
make  men.  And  men,  real  men,  with  disciplined 
minds,  with  finely  formed  and  tempered  characters, 
with  the  power  to  grow  by  serving,  are  the  best 
product  of  the  ages;  for  with  our  political  liberty 
and  our  universities  does  freedom  exist. 

Consider  for  a  moment  what  it  is  that  our  democ- 
racy demands  of  its  universities.  It  demands  a  de- 
tachment which  judges  fairly,  without  an  aloofness 
that  fails  to  sympathize.  It  demands  a  progressive- 
ness  which  presses   forward   without   a  pace  that 


UNIVERSITY  A  DEMOCRACY         195 

leaves  appreciation  breathless.  It  demands  a  scholar- 
ship which  is  solid  and  sure,  without  a  pedantry 
that  is  sterile  and  suflfocating.  It  demands  a  his- 
toric sense  which  interprets  the  present  by  the  past, 
without  an  ancestor-worship  that  bows  the  head  in 
contemplative  awe.  It  demands  a  catholicity  of 
spirit  which  bars  no  excellence  without  a  super- 
ficial sentimentality  that  stops  short  of  having  con- 
victions. Out  of  these  elements  is  the  atmosphere 
of  a  university  compounded — detachment,  progress- 
iveness,  scholarship,  historic  sense,  catholicity.  Is 
it  possible  for  a  democracy  to  pay  too  much  honor 
to  its  universities?  What  life  is  better  than  a  life 
which  helps  a  university  on  its  way? 

It  is  trite  to  say  that  universities  are  among 
the  oldest  of  human  institutions,  yet  it  is  worth 
repeating  now  and  then.  Universities  are  older 
than  parliamentary  government,  older  even  than  our 
familiar  spoken  tongues ;  they  are  but  a  little 
younger  than  the  Roman  law  and  the  Roman 
Church.  Stately,  then,  they  are,  and  wise  with 
watching  many  men  and  many  moods,  as  well  as 
useful  and  skilful,  too,  both  to  inquire  and  to  teach. 
In  the  beginning  the  universities  never  doubted  the 
validity  of  their  method;  it  was  an  all-conquering 
syllogistic  logic.  To-day  the  universities  are  little 
given  to  doubt  the  validity  of  that  scientfic  method 
which  has  displaced  the  syllogistic.  It  may  be 
well  for  the  confident  modern  to  remember  the 
errors  of  the  equally  confident  scholar  of  the  Middle 
Age  and  to  profit  by  his  example,  if  possible.     If, 


196      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

as  Socrates  said,  an  unexamined  life  is  not  worth 
living,  then  surely  an  uncriticised  method  abounds 
in  danger.  The  university  that  does  not  persistently 
examine  the  validity  of  its  method ;  that  does  not 
question  its  assumptions;  that  does  not,  in  other 
words,  pay  to  philosophy  its  just  and  necessary  due, 
will  not  remain  a  university  long. 

To  a  university  in  a  democracy  you  come,  old 
friend,  as  counselor  and  guide.  The  task  is  not  a 
new  one  to  your  head  and  hand.  Yonder  in  the  old 
North  State,  and  across  the  mountains  in  the  Cres- 
ent  City,  where  the  mighty  father  of  waters  halts 
for  a  moment  before  ending  his  winding  course, 
you  have  taken  the  reins  and  driven  skilfully  the 
chariot  of  scholarship  and  of  service.  To-day  the 
scene  is  new.  Here  are  fine  traditions,  noble  ideals, 
brilliant  achievement.  May  the  passing  years  bring- 
only  glory  to  the  nation's  University  that  is  set  in 
the  Old  Dominion's  crown,  and  which  bears  her 
splendid  name,  and  only  happiness  and  honor  to  the 
President,  to  whom  to-day  with  high  hope  and  sin- 
cere affection  we  bid  Godspeed. 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 

GEORGE    E.    VINCEXT 

George  E.  Vincent,  President  of  the  University  of  Minne- 
sota, succeeded  Cyrus  Northrop  in  Octoher.  igii.  The  fol- 
lowing speech  is  abridged  from  his  inaugural  address  : 

The  ceremonies  of  this  hour  mark  not  so  much 
the  coming  of  a  man  as  the  beginning  of  a  new 
phase  in  the  life  of  the  university-  In  the  sweep 
of  time  most  men  are  merged  in  the  on-going  human 
tide.  It  is  wise,  therefore,  to  look  beneath  the 
formal  and  the  personal ;  to  ask  what  this  occasion 
really  means  or  what  it  ought  to  mean. 

Of  one  thing  there  can  be  no  doubt.  This  day 
sees  the  passing  of  a  personal  leadership,  although 
happily  not  the  waning  of  that  personal  influence. 
Not  all  mortals  are  destined  to  be  engulfed  in  the 
nameless  millions  of  mankind.  A  few  outstanding 
men  cannot  be  forgotten.  "An  institution."  said 
Emerson,  "is  but  the  lengthening  shadow  of  one 
man."  Minnesota,  in  this  sense,  will  be  the  length- 
ening shadow  of  Cyrus  Northrop.  Such  unity  as 
the  University  has  found  is  due  almost  wholly  to 
the  fusing  power  of  his  winning  and  guiding  per- 
sonality. The  University  stands  a  living  tribute  to 
the  quick  sympathy,  humorous  tolerance,  harmoniz- 
ing tact,  alert  intelligence,  and   moral  earnestness 

197 


198       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

of  its  President  Emeritus.  He  had  to  convince  an 
often  skeptical  outside  public ;  he  had  to  moderate 
and  adjust  keen  rivalries  within  the  institution.  Col- 
leges and  departments  sought  their  own  ends  with 
only  a  faint  glimpse  of  the  university  as  a  whole. 
As  he  lays  down  the  burden  of  twenty-seven  years 
he  leaves  the  institution  firmly  grounded  in  the 
good  will  of  the  people,  and  unified  by  the  loyalty 
of  faculty,  alumni,  and  students.  We  should  sadly 
miss  the  meaning  of  this  day  did  we  fail  to  turn 
our  grateful  thoughts  toward  Cyrus  Northrop  and 
to  wish  him  many  years  of  serenity  and  happiness. 
Unlike  Macbeth,  he  has 

"...     that  which  should  accompany  old  age, 
As  honor,  love,   obedience,   troops  of   friends." 

To-day  the  University  sets  its  face  toward  a  new 
regime.  No  man  can  take  the  unique  place  of  its 
second  president.  The  burden  must  rest  on  many 
men  and  women,  who,  as  comrades,  take  up  the 
task.  The  gains  of  the  personal  ascendancy  that 
has  passed  must  be  capitalized.  Cooperation,  organi- 
zation, team-play,  are  keynotes  for  the  coming  years. 
An  institutional  period  is  at  hand.  Loyalty  must 
look  to  purposes  rather  than  to  a  person.  Leader- 
ship will  consist  in  carrying  out  policies  which 
many  have  helped  to  formulate.  Regents,  faculties, 
alumni,  students— all  citizens— must  see  the  institu- 
tion more  vividly  as  a  noble  trust  to  be  administered 
for  the  common  good.  This  spirit  of  cooperation 
can  be  aroused  only  by  a  compelling  vision  of  the 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS  199 

University  seen  as  an  organ  of  the  higher  life  of 
the  Commonwealth.  And  this  ideal  must  get  its 
setting  in  some  inspiring  philosophy  of  the  State. 

Mr.  H.  G.  Wells  tells  us  that  we,  as  a  nation, 
suffer  from  "State  blindness."  "The  typical  Ameri- 
can," he  says,  "has  no  'sense  of  the  State.'  I  do  not 
mean  that  he  is  not  passionately  and  vigorously 
patriotic.  But  I  mean  that  he  has  no  coneption 
that  his  business  activities,  his  private  employments, 
are  constituents  in  a  large  collective  process ;  that 
they  aflfect  other  people  and  the  world  forever,  and 
cannot,  as  he  imagines,  begin  and  end  with  him." 

Even  our  friendh^  critic,  the  British  ambassador, 
takes  much  the  same  view.  "The  State,"  declares 
Mr.  Bryce,  "is  not  to  them  (Americans),  as  to  Ger- 
mans or  Frenchmen,  and  even  to  some  English 
thinkers,  an  ideal  moral  power,  charged  with  the 
duty  of  forming  the  characters  and  guiding  the 
lives  of  its  subjects.  It  is  more  like  a  com- 
mercial company,  or,  perhaps,  a  huge  municipality 
created  for  the  management  of  certain  business  in 
which  all  who  reside  within  its  bounds  are  inter- 
ested. ,  .  ."  This  individualistic  "stock  com- 
pany" theory  of  the  Commonwealth  is  neither  en- 
nobling in  itself  nor  does  it  afiford  a  sound  basis 
for  a  State-supported  university.  We  may  para- 
phrase Mr.  Joseph  Chamberlin  on  the  British  Con- 
stitution, and  thank  God  that  our  institutions  are 
not  logical.  This  philosophy  would  almost  reduce 
the  university  to  a  machine  for  turning  out  persons 
equipped  at  public  expense  for  getting  a  living  out 


200      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

of  the  citizens  who  had  been  already  taxed  to  train 
their  exploiters.  On  this  basis  it  is  hard  to  see  why 
the  State  should  give  privileges  to  a  few  at  the 
expense  of  their  fellows.  Even  the  "antidote  against 
ignorance"  philosophy  leaves  the  imagination  cold. 
This  is  only  a  sublimated  form  of  the  policeman 
theory.  Obviously  we  need  some  other  conception 
of  the  State  if  we  are  to  escape  cynicism  about 
both  our  social  system  and  our  public  higher  edu- 
cation. 

But  we  cannot  admit  that  Mr.  Wells  and  Mr. 
Bryce  have  quite  made  out  their  case.  There  are 
signs  of  change  in  the  feeling  of  Americans  toward 
the  State.  Especially  in  the  middle  and  far  West 
do  we  note  a  keener  recognition  of  collective  inter- 
ests and  purposes.  There  is  a  quickened  feeling  of 
team-play,  a  clearer  "sense  of  the  state,"  which  is 
thought  of  not  in  a  merely  political  way,  but  is 
looked  at  as  a  social  life  with  common  aims.  The 
people  of  a  State  have  learned  to  work  together  to 
protect  natural  resources,  to  foster  agriculture,  to 
safeguard  public  health,  to  regulate  industry  and 
commerce,  to  promote  the  highways,  to  care  for 
the  defective  and  dependent,  to  promote  education. 
They  have  done  these  things  sometimes  through  the 
machinery  of  government,  sometimes  through  un- 
official groups.  All  this  community  activity  has  in- 
evitably changed  the  picture  of  the  State  in  the 
minds  of  its  citizens.  The  Commonwealth  emerges 
as  something  far  nobler  than  a  stock  company  run 
for  the  profit  of  its  shareholders.     It  does  become 


IXAUGURAL  ADDRESS  201 

"an  ideal  moral  power."  a  larger  life  in  which  men 
and  women  realize  more  fully  their  best  selves,  and 
to  which  they  give  something  that  will  endure  for 
all  time.  The  State  is  coming  to  stand  for  a  common 
life,  which  seeks  to  gain  ever  higher  levels  of  effi- 
ciency, justice,  happiness,  and  solidarity. 

In  a  picture  like  this  the  State  university  finds 
both  setting  and  sanction.  It  becomes  an  instru- 
ment of  the  general  purpose,  a  training  place  of 
social  servants,  a  counsellor  of  the  Commonwealth, 
a  source  of  knowledge  and  idealism.  It  is  this  vision 
which  must  fascinate  and  control  the  men  and 
women  Avho  are  to-day  taking  up  anew  the  responsi- 
bility for  this  institution.  Arnold  Toynbee  once 
said :  "Enthusiasm  can  onl}^  be  aroused  by  two 
things — first,  an  ideal  which  takes  the  imagination 
by  storm;  and,  second,  a  definite,  intelligible  plan 
for  carrying  this  ideal  out  into  practice."  Here  is 
the  whole  philosophy  of  successful  effort.  Many  an 
ideal  comes  to  naught  because  it  lacks  the  right 
means  of  expression.  Many  a  well-laid  plan  misses 
the  emotional  energy  aroused  by  a  vision.  Emer- 
son's Oxford  don  whose  philosophy  read,  "Nothing 
new,  nothing  true,  and  no  matter,"  was  not  of  those 
who  bring  things  to  pass.  We  do  well  to-day  to 
catch  a  glimpse  if  we  can  of  the  university  that 
ought  to  be,  with  the  hope  that  it  may  "take  our 
imaginations  by  storm"  and  urge  us  to  devise  "defi- 
nite and  intelligible"  plans  for  action 

I^et  us  glance  rapidly  at  the  chief  things  that 
combine  in  the  niii\c'rsitv  ideal  which  we  would  fix 


203       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

in  our  minds  to-day.  If  the  phrase  "glittering  gen- 
eralities" dampens  our  ardor,  we  may  take  courage 
from  Emerson's  spirited  retort,  when  Choate  applied 
these  words  to  the  lines  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence :  "Glittering  generalities !"  cried  the  Sage 
of  Concord,  "they  are  blazing  ubiquities!" 

The  picture  of  the  State  as  a  collective  life,  which 
seeks  common  ends  by  concerted  effort,  makes  the 
State  university  a  means  of  social  efficiency  and 
progress.  The  older  individualistic  theory  no  longer 
satisfies  even  those  who  put  their  faith  in  private 
initiative  and  responsibility.  The  university  aims 
first  of  all  to  serve  the  Commonwealth  through  indi- 
viduals, not  to  offer  personal  privilege  at  State  ex- 
pense. Alma  Mater  is  of  a  Spartan  type,  and  trains 
her  sons  and  daughters  for  work  and  for  life.  She 
must  teach  the  robust  gospel  that  "It  is  the  one  base 
thing  to  receive  and  not  to  give."  She  must  insist 
that  "Life  is  not  a  cup  to  be  drained,  but  a  measure 
to  be  filled."  For  the  old  aristocratic  ideal  of 
noblesse  oblige  she  substitutes  the  sentiment  larg- 
esse oblige.  Acceptance  of  public  aid  may  make  a 
pauper  or  an  ingrate  or  a  loyal  servant  of  the 
State.  If  tax-supported  higher  education  is  to  be 
justified,  it  must  see  itself  and  make  the  people  see 
it  as  an  instrument  of  the  common  life,  and  not  an 
agency  of  privilege. 

The  first  president  of  Johns  Hopkins  University 
was  fond  of  saying  that  buildings  are  but  the  shell 
of  the  university;  its  real  life  lies  in  its  men.  He 
was  proud  of  the  fact  that  at  the  ver}^  outset  an 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS  203 

eminent  physicist  like  Rowland  used  a  kitchen  as 
his  laboratory.  Only  great  men  and  women  can 
make  a  university  great.  Better  inspired  investiga- 
tors and  teachers  in  barracks  than  a  staff  of  indus- 
trious mediocrity  in  marble  palaces.  Best  of  all, 
alert,  well-trained,  high-minded  scholars  in  service- 
able buildings  with  adequate  equipment.  If,  how- 
ever, a  choice  must  be  made,  it  should  never  hesi- 
tate between  men  and  materials.  The  university 
which  is  true  to  its  ideals  will  draw  and  hold  an 
able  staff  by  salaries  that  banish  petty  anxiety,  by 
freedom  from  drudgery,  by  opportunities  for  re- 
search and  public  service,  and  by  dignifying  recogni- 
tion. No  institution  that  thinks  of  investigators  and 
teachers  as  employees  is  likely  to  secure  any  but 
the  drudges  of  the  profession. 

"Enthusiasm  for  truth,  that  fanaticism  of  verac- 
ity," which  Huxley  deemed  "a  greater  possession 
than  much  learning"  is  the  very  life  of  a  true  uni- 
versity  No  ingenious  machinery  of 

scholarship,  no  mere  pedantry  which,  as  a  wit  has 
said,  "never  takes  a  step  without  leaving  a  foot- 
note," can  take  the  place  of  the  genuine  passion 
for  new  truth.  The  ideal  university  will  not  deceive 
itself  or  others  by  any  perfunctory  simulation  of 
research.  It  will  seek  men  who  have  the  dauntless 
"fanaticism  of  veracity." 

"The  teaching  at  the  ideal  university,  declares 
Birrell,  "is  without  equivocation  and  without  com- 
promise. Its  notes  are  zeal,  accuracy,  fullness,  and 
authcjrity."  It  is  hard  to  keep  the  functions  of  teach- 


201-       EXTEMPORANEOUS   SPEAKING 

ing  and  investigation  in  equal  honor.  \\'here  re- 
search is  exalted,  instruction  is  too  often  lightly 
esteemed.  The  "mere  teacher,"  as  the  patronizing 
phrase  runs,  suffers  in  rank  and  salary  and  social 
status.  In  the  university  of  our  dreams  the  noble 
callingof  imparting  truth,  stimulating  reflection,  and 
kindling  enthusiasm  will  be  held  in  high  repute.  But 
the  two  types  will  not  be  too  sharply  contrasted, 
for  he  who  teaches  "with  zeal,  accuracy,  fullness, 
and  authority"  must  refresh  himself  constantly  at 
the  sources  of  knowledge,  while  no  man  who  pushes 
forward  the  frontiers  of  science  can  fail  to  impart 
with  zest  to  at  least  a  small  group  of  followers  the 
new  truth  that  he  has  discovered.  The  two  types 
must  hold  each  other  in  respect  and  honor,  and 
both  must  be  held  up  for  admiration  b}^  their  col- 
leagues. 

In  an  ideal  university  students  should  be  treated 
not  as  subjects,  but  as  citizens  of  the  republic  of 
letters  and  science.  Students  have  not  always  been 
in  pupilage.  Frederick  Barbarossa  conferred  such 
powers  upon  the  students  of  Bologna  that  they  not 
only  lorded  it  over  the  townfolk,  but  we  are  told 
"reduced  the  latter  (professors)  to  a  position  of 
humble  deference  to  the  very  body  they  were  called 
upon  to  instruct."  To  admit  students  to  academic 
citizenship,  however,  is  not  to  surrender  to  them 
control  of  the  university.  It  is  simply  to  emphasize 
their  share  in  the  community  life;  to  fix  upon  them 
responsibility  and  to  afford  that  training  in  cor- 
porate   self-control — the    selection    of    leaders,    the 


IXAUCxURAL  ADDRESS  205 

creation  of  standards,  the  conformity  to  these — 
which  is  the  very  essence  of  democracy.  The  uni- 
versity must  hark  back  to  the  mediaeval  ideal  of  a 
"Universitas  magistrorum  et  studentium" — a  corpo- 
ration of  teachers  ayid  scholars.  The  alumni,  too, 
must  feel  themselves  a  part  of  this  corporation. 
They  do  not,  as  at  the  English  universities,  legally 
control,  but  actually  they  have  great  power  and 
responsibility.  They  will  not  be  mere  praisers  of 
the  past,  and  resent  change  because  the  memories 
of  their  undergraduate  days  have  been  embalmed 
in  sentiment.  On  the  contrary,  they  will  often  take 
the  initiative  in  new  movements.  They  will  report 
impressions  gathered  as  they  mingle  with  the 
people  of  the  State;  they  will  feel  not  only  free, 
but  in  duty  bound  to  make  suggestions ;  they  will 
make  it  a  point  to  know  what  the  university  is  aim- 
ing at,  and  will  help  to  interpret  the  institution  to 
the  State.  The  alumni  will  frequent  the  only  lolibies 
that  the  university  can  alYord  to  enter,  the  daily 
converse  of  citizens  and  the  agencies  of  publicity. 
And  all  this  the  alumni  can  do  efifectively  only 
through  an  organization  which  will  cooperate  heart- 
ily with  the  other  members  of  the  university  com- 
munity. 

If  a  people  is  not  to  perish  mentally  and  spirit- 
ually, it  must  be  steadily  refreshed  by  streams  of 
thought  and  idealism.  Of  these,  the  university 
strives  to  be  a  perennial  source.  Unless  graduation 
is  a  mockery,  hundreds  of  men  and  women  go  forth 
each  year  to  diffuse  throughout  the  Commonwealth 


206      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

the  ideas  and  attitude  toward  life  which  they  gained 
from  their  college  training.  The  value  of  all  this 
must  be  as  real  as  it  is  intangible.  Mathew  Arnold 
has  described  the  effect  of  such  diffusion  of  ideas  in 
speaking  of  "this  knowledge  turning  a  stream  of 
fresh  and  free  thought  upon  our  stock  notions  and 
habits,  which  we  now  follow  staunchly,  but  me- 
chanically, vainly  imagining  that  there  is  a  virtue 
in  following  them  staunchly,  which  makes  up  for 
the  mischief  of  following  them  mechanically."  If 
a  State  is  to  be  flexible  and  escape  the  bonds  of 
habit  and  custom,  it  must  be  constantly  revivified. 
In  this  service  the  university  must  play  a  leading 
part 

To  find  exceptional  men  and  women,  to  train 
them  for  service,  to  fit  them  for  leadership,  to  fill 
them  with  zeal  for  truth  and  justice,  is  the  one 
great  aim  of  the  university.  "The  mind  which 
keeps  the  mass  in  motion,"  said  Godkin,  "would 
most  probably,  if  we  could  lay  bare  the  secret  of 
national  vigor,  be  found  in  the  possession  of  a  very 
small  proportion  of  the  people,  though  not  in  any 
class  in  particular,  neither  among  the  rich  nor  the 
poor,  the  learned  nor  the  simple,  capitalists  nor 
laborers " 

From  the  university  towers  the  searchlights  must 
be  ever  sweeping  countryside,  village,  town,  and 
city  for  the  "minds  which  keep  the  mass  in  motion." 

Standards  of  truth,  skill,  taste,  efficiency  are  the 
capitalized  experience  of  society,  essential  to  stabil- 
ity and  progress.    Of  these  standards,  the  university 


INAUGURAL  ADDRESS  207 

is  one  of  the  guardians.  To  these,  come  what  may, 
it  must  be  true.  No  sympathy  for  individuals,  no 
pressure  of  influence,  no  fear  of  retaliation,  no  desire 
for  numbers  must  weaken  fidelity  to  standards. 
Freedom  of  research,  freedom  of  teaching,  high 
ideals  of  productive  scholarship  and  of  professional 
integrity,  conscientious  and  fearless  appraisal  of 
students'  work  are  of  vital  concern  to  the  university 
and  to  the  State  it  serves.  To  help  to  refine  and 
raise  these  standards,  to  adjust  them  more  nicely 
to  social  needs,  to  fix  these  values  in  public  opinion, 
is  a  duty  of  the  ideal  universi^-y. 

In  the  striking  phrase  of  President  Van  ITise,  the 
university  must  aim  at  being  the  "expert  advisor 
of  the  State."  How  stirring  the  thought  of  a  well 
organized  and  efficiently  manned  center  of  knowl- 
edge, skill,  and  wisdom,  holding  itself  at  the  dis- 
posal of  every  constructive  interest  and  activity 
of  the  community,  and  ready  to  concentrate  upon 
their  problems  the  sifted  experience  of  all  the  world. 
In  this  responsiveness  the  true  university  expresses 
its  purpose  and  spirit.  It  is  a  bureau  of  information, 
the  stored  memory  of  civilization,  an  alert  inves- 
tigator of  new  facts;  it  is  a  friendly  and  at  the  same 
time  a  disinterested  counsellor.  It  is  pathetic  to 
see  men,  isolated  from  the  w^'sdom  of  the  centuries 
and  of  their  own  times,  hopefully  assailing  the  ever 
recurring  problems  of  life.  The  waste  of  effort,  the 
futility  of  duplicating  errors,  cry  out  for  aid.  The 
opportunities  for  service  multiply  with  each  year. 
We  are  coming  to  realize  that  good  farming  is  no 


2(iS       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SrEAKING 

longer  a  robbing,  but  a  recompensing  of  the  soil ; 
that  it  costs  as  much  to  plant  bad  seed  as  good ; 
that  sometimes  cows  are  pensioners  instead  of  pro- 
ducers; that  bad  highways  are  the  heaviest  road 
tax ;  that  cheap  schools  are  the  most  expensive ;  that 
public  health  is  national  capital ;  that  juvenile  delin- 
quency comes  less  from  depravity  than  from  depri- 
vation ;  that  industrial  accidents  are  not  lawyers' 
perquisites,  but  costs  of  production ;  that  all  idle- 
ness is  not  due  to  indolence ;  that  social  legislation 
is  not  an  amiable  avocation,  but  an  exacting  profes- 
sion ;  that  municipal  government  should  not  be  so 
skilfully  designed  to  prevent  bad  men  from  doing 
harm,  that  it  keeps  honest  and  ef^cient  men  from 
doing  good  ;  that  the  United  States  must  trust  less 
to  a  "manifest  destiny"  and  more  to  a  constructive 
purpose.  In  these  changes  of  theory  and  method 
there  is  need  of  accurate  knowledge,  carefully  inter- 
preted experiment,  and  authoritative  advice.  If  the 
university  is  true  to  its  mission,  it  will  put  all 
of  its  resources  and  its  trained  experts  at  the  ser- 
vice of  the  community.  Amid  the  conflicts  and 
rivalries  of  many  interests,  parties,  sects,  sections, 
professions,  social  groups,  the  university  must  never 
waver  from  the  position  of  an  unimpassioned,  un- 
prejudiced seeker  for  the  truth,  all  of  it,  and  that 
alone.  This  responsibility  is  not  to  be  assumed 
lightl}-.  Mistakes  are  costly  in  public  confidence. 
Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  prestige.  The  dis- 
comfiture of  the  expert  gives  joy  to  the  average 
citizen.     The   ideal   university  must,   therefore,   be 


IXAUGURAL  ADDRESS  209 

true  to  the  most  rigorous  laws  of  scientific  method 
if  the  institution  is  to  gain  and  hold  its  place  as 

the  "expert  advisor  of  the  State." 

\\'e  have  caught  glimpses  of  the  university  ideal. 
May  this,  as  the  3-ears  pass,  grow  ever  clearer, 
nobler,  more  inspiring.  May  it  take  our  "imagina- 
tions by  storm,"  not  as  an  evanescent  emotion,  but 
as  a  persistent  vision.  We  remember  Toynbee's 
words,  "a  definite  intelligible  plan  for  carrying  that 
ideal  out  into  practice."  It  is  to  the  many  details 
of  this  plan  that  as  colleagues  we  are  to  address  our- 
selves, yiay  we  take  up  this  great  task  with  a  sol- 
emn sense  of  what  it  means.  We  must  not  deceive 
ourselves.  We  advance  to  no  easy  triumphs.  We 
must  cherish  no  millennial  dreams.  We  must  have 
faith  that  good-will,  guided  by  wisdom,  will  in  the 
end  bring  our  vision  to  pass.  Let  us,  then,  with 
sober  judgment  and  steady  courage,  pledge  anew 
our  loyalty  to  the  ideals  of  the  university,  to  the 
people  of  the  State,  and  to  that  republic  of  science, 
letters,  and  the  arts  which  knows  no  national  boun- 
daries. May  each  of  us  take  to  heart  the  counsel  of 
Goethe : 

"What    each    day    needs,    that    shalt    thou    ask; 
Each    day    will    set    its    proper    task. 
Give    others*    work    just    share    of    praise; 
Not  of  thine  own  the  merits  raise. 
Beware   no    fellow  man   thou   hate ; 
And    so   in    God's   hands    leave    thy    fate." 


THE  DELAYS  AND  DEFECTS  IN  THE 

ENFORCEMENT    OF   LAW    IN 

THIS  COUNTRY 

WILLIAM    HOWARD  TAFT 

Parts  of  an  address  delivered  by  William  H.  Taft  before  the 
Civic  Forum,  in  New  York  City,  April  28,   igo8. 

If  one  w^ere  to  l)e  asked  in  what  respect  we  had 
fallen  farthest  short  of  ideal  conditions  in  our  whole 
government,  I  think  he  w'ould  be  justified  in  answer- 
ing, in  spite  of  the  failure  that  we  have  made  gen- 
erally ^in  municipal  government,  that  the  greatest 
reform  v^hich  could  be  effected  would  be  expedition 
and  thoroughness  in  the  enforcement  of  public  and 
private  rights  in  our  courts.  I  di)  not  mean  to  say 
that  the  judges  of  the  courts  are  lacking  either  in 
honesty,  industry,  or  knowledge  of  the  law,  but  I 
do  mean  to  say  that  the  machinery  of  which  they 
are  a  part  is  so  cumbersome  and  slow  and  expensive 
for  the  litigants — public  and  private— that  the  whole 
judicial  branch  of  the  government  fails  in  a  marked 
way  to  accomplish  certain  of  the  purposes  for  which 
it  was  created. 

In  the  courts  of  first  instance  and  in  the  inter- 
mediate appellate  courts  of  the  United  States  there 
is  much  more  delay  than  is  necessary.  In  the  first 
place,  the  codes  of  procedure  are  much  too  elabo- 

211 


212      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

rate.  It  is  possible  to  have  a  code  of  procedure 
simple  and  effective.  This  is  shown  by  the  present 
procedure  in  the  English  courts  framed  by  rules  of 
court.  The  code  of  the  State  of  New  York  is  stag- 
gering in  the  number  of  its  sections.  A  similar 
defect  exists  in  some  civil  law  countries.  The  elabo- 
rate Spanish  code  of  procedure  that  we  found  in  the 
Philippines  when  w^e  first  went  there  could  be  used 
by  a  dilator}'  defendant  to  keep  the  plaintiff  stamp- 
ing in  the  vestibule  of  justice  until  time  had  made 
justice  impossible.  Every  additional  technicality, 
every  additional  rule  of  procedure  adds  to  the  ex- 
pense of  litigation.  It  is  inevitable  that  with  an 
elaborate  code,  the  expense  of  a  suit  involving  a 
small  sum  is  in  proportion  far  greater  than  that 
involving  a  large  sum.  Hence,  it  results  that  the 
cost  of  justice  to  the  poor  is  always  greater  than 
it  is  to  the  rich,  assuming  that  the  poor  are  more 
often  interested  in  small  cases  and  the  rich  in  large 
ones — a  fairly  reasonable  assumption.  In  perhaps 
less  than  half  the  cases  a  jur}^  trial  is  possible,  and 
necessary  if  demanded.  This  adds  to  the  elaborate 
machinery  necessary  for  the  adjustment  and  de- 
cision of  the  rights  of  the  litigants.  It  greatly  in- 
creases the  time  taken  in  the  disposition  of  the  case, 
and  also  the  expense  attendant  on  the  trial.  In  the 
Federal  courts,  upon  demand,  a  jury  trial  must  be 
had  in  all  cases  at  common  law  involving  more 
than  twenty  dollars. 

One  reason  for  unreasonable  delay  in  the  lower 
courts  is  the  disposition  of  judges  to  wait  an  undue 


THE  LAW'S  DELAYS  213 

length  of  time  in  the  writing"  of  their  opinions  or 
judgments.  I  speak  with  confidence  on  this  point, 
for  I  have  sinned  m3^self.  In  English  courts  the 
ordinary  practice  is  for  the  judge  to  deliver  his 
opinion  immediatel}^  upon  the  close  of  the  argument, 
and  this  is  the  practice  which  ought  to  be  enforced 
so  far  as  possible  in  our  courts  of  first  instance.  It 
is  a  great  deal  more  important  that  the  court  of  first 
instance  should  decide  promptly  than  that  it  should 
decide  right.  Such  practice  of  deciding  cases  at  the 
close  of  the  hearing  makes  the  judge  very  much 
more  attentive  to  the  argument  during  its  presenta- 
tion and  much  more  likely  on  the  whole  to  decide 
right  when  the  evidence  and  the  arguments  are 
fresh  in  his  mind.  In  the  Philippines  the  system  has 
been  adopted  of  refusing  a  judge  his  regular  monthly 
stipend  unless  he  can  file  a  certificate,  with  the 
receipt  for  the  mone}',  in  which  he  certifies  on  honor 
that  he  has  disposed  of  all  the  business  submitted 
to  him  within  the  previous  sixty  days.  This  has 
had  a  marvellously  good  effect  in  keeping  the 
dockets  of  the  court  clear. 

One  of  the  great  difficulties  with  the  profession 
of  the  law — whether  the  members  are  judges  or  ad- 
vocates— is  the  disposition  to  treat  the  litigants  as 
made  for  the  courts  and  the  lawyers,  and  not  the 
courts  and  lawyers  as  made  for  the  litigants.  And 
as  it  is  lawyers  who  in  judicial  committees  of  the 
legislatures  draft  the  codes  of  procedure,  there  is 
too  frequently  not  present  in  as  strong  impelling 
force  as  it  ought  to  be    the  motive  for  simplifying 


214      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

the  procedure  and  making  the  final  disposition  of 
cases  as  short  as  possible.  In  the  end.  this  would 
be  greatly  in  the  interest  of  the  lawyers,  because 
they  would  have  more  business.  The  present  condi- 
tions of  delay  in  the  courts  and  inability  to  obtain 
final  decisions  within  a  reasonably  short  time,  lead 
those  who  are  able  to  arbitrate  their  cases  out  of 
court  and  lead  many  a  part  to  a  controversy  to  yield 
to  unjust  claims  rather  than  to  expose  himself  to  the 
nervous  strain  and  expensive  burden  of  a  long- 
drawn-out  contest  in  court. 

We  have,  as  is  well  understood,  certam  constitu- 
tional restrictions  as  to  the  procedure  in  criminal 
cases  which  offer  protection  to  the  accused  and 
present  difficulties  in  the  proof  of  his  guilt  to  the 
government.  But  these  obtain  as  well  in  the  English 
courts  as  in  our  own,  and,  therefore,  their  existence 
does  not  offer  a  reason  for  the  delays  which  we  have 
here  and  which  are  absent  in  the  English  adminis- 
tration of  justice.  A  murder  case,  which  in  this 
country  is  permitted  to  drag  itself  out  for  three 
weeks  or  a  month,  in  England  is  disposed  of  in  a  day, 
two  days,  or,  at  the  most,  three  days — certainl}^  in 
less  than  one-fifth  the  time.  This  is  because  the 
judges  insist  upon  expedition  by  the  counsel,  cut 
short  useless  cross-examination,  and  confine  the  evi- 
dence to  the  nub  of  the  case.  It  is  due  to  the  greater 
power  which  the  English  judge  is  given,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  common  law  rule,  as  to  the  respective 
functions  of  the  court  and  jury.  With  such  speed, 
it  would  be  possible  for  the  prosecuting  attorneys 


THE  LA^^••S  DELAYS  215 

to  clear  their  dockets,  whereas  now  they  are  utterly- 
unable  to  do  so.  A  man  who  is  indicted  and  has 
means  with  which  to  secure  bail  is  released  on 
bond,  unless  he  is  confined  for  murder  in  the  first 
deg-ree.  The  pressure  upon  the  prosecuting-  officers 
is  for  the  trial  of  those  who  are  in  jail  and  unable 
to  give  bail,  and  the  result  usually  is  that  there  is 
but  little  time  for  the  trial  of  those  who  are  re- 
leased on  bail ;  so  continuances  are  granted  from 
time  to  time  in  the  bailed  cases,  the  evidence  fades 
and  disappears,  newer  and  more  sensational  cases 
come  on,  and  ultimately  nollies  are  entered,  and 
the  indicted  man  escapes.  This  is  the  explanation 
why  so  many  crimes  are  not  punished.  J\Iuch  of  the 
difficulty  and  failure  of  justice  would  be  avoided  if 
greater  expedition  were  used  in  the  cases  which  are 
tried. 

Another  cause  of  delay  is  the  difficulty  of  secur- 
ing jurors  properly  sensible  of  the  duty  which  they 
are  summoned  to  perform.  In  the  extreme  tender- 
ness the  State  legislatures  exhibit  toward  persons 
accused  as  criminals,  and  especially  as  murderers, 
they  allow  peremptory  challenges  to  the  defendant 
in  excess  of  those  allowed  to  the  State.  In  my  own 
State  of  Ohio  for  a  long  time  the  law  was  that  the 
State  was  allowed  two  peremptory  challenges  and 
the  defendant  twenty-three  in  capital  cases.  This 
very  great  discrepancy  between  the  two  sides  of 
the  case  allowed  the  defendant's  counsel  to  eliminate 
from  all  panels  every  man  of  force  and  character 
and  standing  in  the  community,  and  to  assemble  a 


216       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

collection  in  the  jury  box  of  nondescripts  of  no 
character,  Aveak,  and  amenable  to  every  breeze  of 
emotion,  however  maudlin  or  errelevant  to  the  issue. 

One  very  salutary  provision  which  ought  to  be 
introduced  into  the  statutes  of  every  State  and  the 
statutes  of  the  United  States  in  regard  to  appeals 
in  criminal  cases,  and  indeed  in  regard  to  appeals  in 
civil  cases,  would  be  that  no  judgment  of  a  trial 
court  should  be  reversed  except  for  an  error  which 
the  court,  after  reading  the  entire  record,  can 
affirmatively  say  would  have  led  to  a  different  ver- 
dict and  judgment.  This  would  do  no  injustice  and 
would  end  reversals  for  technicalities. 

And,  now,  what  has  been  the  result  of  the  lax 
administration  of  criminal  law  in  this  country? 
Criminal  statistics  are  exceedingly  difficult  to 
obtain.  The  number  of  homicides  one  can  note 
from  the  daily  newspapers,  the  number  of  lynchings, 
and  the  number  of  executions,  but  rhe  number  or 
indictments,  trials,  convictions,  acquittals,  or  mis- 
trials it  is  hard  to  find.  Since  1885  in  the  United 
States  there  have  been  131,951  murders  and  homi- 
cides, and  there  have  been  2,286  executions.  In  18S5 
the  number  of  murders  was  1,808.  In  1904  it  had 
increased  to  8,482.  The  number  of  executions  in 
1885  was  108.  In  1904  it  was  116.  This  startling 
increase  in  the  number  of  murders  and  homicides 
as  compared  with  the  number  of  executions  tells 
the  story.  As  murder  is  on  the  increase,  so  are  all 
offences  of  the  felony  class,  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  thev  will  continue  to  increase  unless  the 


THE  LAW'S  DELAYS  217 

criminal  laws  arc  enforced  with  more  certainty, 
more  uniformity,  more  severity  than  they  now  are. 
I  freely  admit  that  the  strongest  force  in  a  com- 
munit}-  like  this  is  the  force  of  public  opinion,  and 
that  frequently  the  existence  of  evils  in  the  com- 
munity is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  force  of  public 
opinion  is  not  sufficiently  directed  to  the  evil  in 
hand.  The  enormous  discrepancy  between  the 
crimes  which  are  committed  and  the  crimes  which 
are  actually  brought  to  trial  is  sufficient  to  show 
that  the  force  of  public  opinion  is  not  acute  enough 
and  is  not  directed  against  the  prosecuting  officers 
and  the  judicial  officers  with  sufficient  vigor  to 
bring  every  man  guilty  of  an  offence  to  trial.  Of 
recent  years  we  have  been  engaged  in  the  trial  of 
u-ealth}'  men  and  corporations  charged  with  violat- 
ing the  anti-trust  laws  and  the  anti-rebate  laws,  or 
laws  against  railway  discrimination.  In  the  trials 
which  have  ensued  there  has  been  brought  home  to 
the  public  the  possibility  of  contest  offered  to 
wealthy  defendants  who  employ  acute  counsel  to 
take  advantage  of  all  the  technicalities  and  delays 
which  the  laws  at  present  in  force  offer.  It  is  quite 
possible  that  the  escape  of  wealthy  malefactors 
under  our  present  criminal  system  from  just  punish- 
ment will  bring  home  to  the  people  at  large  the  con- 
viction which  ought  to  obtain,  that  in  the  tender- 
ness toward  the  individual  charged  with  crime  mani- 
fested by  legislatures  and  lawmakers  during  the 
last  fifty  years  in  this  country,  great  injustice  has 
been  done  to  the  interests  of  the  public  and  that  is 
a  time  for  the  calling  of  a  halt. 


THE  INDETERMINATE   SENTENCE,  THE 
PAROLE,  AND  THE   NEW  CRIMI- 
NOLOGY 

FREDERICK    HOWARD    WINES 

Parts  of  an  address  by  Frederick  Howard  Wines,  before 
the   Chamber  of   Commerce,   Springfield,   111.,    March   2,    igio. 

Criminology  is  the  science  and  art  of  dealing  with 
crime  and  criminals.  The  new  criminology  is  the 
natural  and  inevitable  reaction  against  the  old, 
against  the  penal  codes  and  penal  establishments, 
which  it  is  its  aim  to  replace  by  others  more  in 
harmony  wnth  modern  intelligence  and  civilization. 

The  indeterminate  sentence  and  the  parole,  or 
conditional  liberation,  though  separable  in  thought 
and  in  law,  are  vitalh^  related  to  each  other  as 
component  parts  of  an  advanced  prison  system ;  the 
attempt  to  sever  them  from  each  other  would  re- 
seml)le  the  rejected  proposal  to  cut  the  bond  that 
united  the  Siamese  tvsnns  lest  it  should  prove  fatal 
to  one  or  both.  The  indeterminate  sentence  is  the 
central  feature  of  the  new  criminology. 

As  an  advocate  of  the  new  criminology,  I  shall 
endeavor  to  demonstrate  that  the  abandonment  in 
Illinois  of  the  indeterminate  sentence,  which  w^ould 
necessarily  follow  a  successful  attack  upon  the 
parole  law.  w^ould  be  a  retrograde  stej)  in  the  on- 
ward march  of  science  and  of  religion. 

219 


220      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

It  is  now  very  nearly  half  a  century  since  my 
father,  the  acknowledged  leader  of  prison  reform 
throughout  the  world,  the  founder  of  the  national 
prison  association  and  of  the  international  peniten- 
tiary congress,  awakened  my  interest  in  the  prison 
question.  When  I  consider  the  state  of  American 
prisons  then  and  the  advance  that  has  been  made 
since,  I  am  moved  to  exclaim,  with  Hamlet,  "Look 
here,  upon  this  picture,  and  on  this ;"  or,  in  the 
words  of  the  first  telegram  sent  over  the  line  be- 
tween Baltimore  and  Washington,  "What  hath  God 
wrought." 

There  were  at  that  time  three  great  wrongs  that 
loudly  called  for  redress;  political  control  of  prisons, 
contract  labor  in  prisons,  and  the  undue  frequency 
and  severity  of  disciplinary  punishments.  The 
profits  of  the  system  went  to  the  contractor  and  the 
political  leader;  the  convict  was  its  helpless  victim. 

Convict  labor  is  unwilling  labor.  In  order  to 
render  it  profitable,  coercion  in  some  form  is  indis- 
pensable. The  system  seemed  to  justify  and  de- 
mand the  application  of  brute  force,  and  it  was 
sometimes  applied  in  forms  which  recall  to  mind 
the  tortures  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition 

At  last  it  dawned  upon  the  consciousness,  even 
of  the  men  by  whom  the  system  was  administered, 
that  human  conduct  is  regulated  by  two  opposite 
motives,  of  which  one — namely,  fear,  is  brutalizing 
and  degrading,  but  the  influence  of  hope  is  on  the 
contrary  inspiring  and  uplifting.  It  was  decided  to 
try  the   efifect   of  rewards   instead   of   punishments 


INDETERMINATE  SENTENCE        221 

as  an  inducement  to  industry  and  obedience.  Two 
forms  of  reward  suggested  themselves.  The  first 
of  these  was  the  grant  to  the  prisoner  himself  of  a 
share  in  his  earnings;  the  second,  the  promise  of 
some  abridgment  of  his  term  of  incarceration.  The 
latter  took  originally  the  form  of  commutation  of 
sentence,  on  a  fixed  scale,  regulated  by  law.  The 
immediate  influence  of  this  innovation  was  to  render 
the  administration  of  discipline  far  more  easy,  and 
its  former  harshness  was  greatly  ameliorated.  Com- 
mutation of  sentence  as  a  legal  right  had  a  tendency 
to  awaken  some  degree  of  self-respect  in  the  pris- 
oner's mind,  whereas  commutation,  as  a  favor,  and 
still  more  a  pardon  given  as  an  act  of  arbitrary 
grace,  exerts  a  demoralizing  influence,  which  ex- 
tends to  the  entire  prison  population.  But  commu- 
tation implies  absolute  discharge ;  and  in  this  par- 
ticular it  differs  from  conditional  release  or  the 
parole,  under  which  the  convict  is  still  in  legal  cus- 
tody, though  at  large,  and  is  liable  at  any  time  to  be 
re-arrested  and  imprisoned  in  case  he  violates  the 
conditons  attached  to  his  parole. 

These  commutation  acts,  however,  and  the  experi- 
ence had  of  their  beneficial  tendency,  did  much  to 
prepare  the  way  for  the  ultimate  acceptance  of  the 
principle  of  the  indeterminate  sentence. 

There  is  not,  and  in  the  nature  of  things  there 
cannot  be,  any  aid  to  a  truly  reformatory  discipline 
like  that  afforded  by  the  indetermniate  sentence. 
Every  prison  of^cial  can  testify  to  the  dissatisfac- 


222       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

tion  and  unrest  caused  by  the  palpable  inequality 
of  sentences ;  an  inequality  which  neither  the  legis- 
lature nor  the  courts  can  avoid  or  correct.  The  only 
equal  sentence  is  the  indeterminate  sentence,  with 
an  identical  maximum  for  all  who  violate  a  given 
section  of  the  code,  coupled  with  identical  condi- 
tions by  which  to  reduce  it  to  the  minimum  pre- 
scribed by  law.  Its  imposition  removes  all  ground 
for  complaint  on  this  score.  It  also  puts  an  end 
to  the  fallacious  hope  of  an  unconditional  pardon. 
The  prisoner  is  given  to  understand  that  the  date 
of  his  release  on  parole  depends  entirely  upon  him- 
self. The  authorities  desire  his  release  and  will 
help  him  to  earn  it ;  they  are  not  his  enemies,  but 
his  friends.  This  disarms  him  of  his  hostility  to 
them. 

The  hope  of  an  early  release  sustains  him  under 
the  depressing  influence  of  prison  life  and  stimulates 
him  to  exert  himself  to  avoid  losing  whatever  he 
has  gained  by  diligence  and  good  conduct.  He  is 
aided  to  form  habits  of  industry  and  obedience, 
which  tend  to  become  fixed.  He  is  trained  and 
transformed. 

Under  the  indeterminate  sentence,  the  prison  it- 
self undergoes  a  gradual  process  of  transformation. 
The  moment  that  reformation,  rather  than  punish- 
ment, becomes  the  watchword  of  the  administra- 
tion, a  new  spirit  takes  possession  of  it.  The  gov- 
ernor chooses  better  and  abler  men  to  govern  it — 
men   imbued  with  reformatory  ideas  and  qualified 


INDETERMIXATE  SEXTEXCE        2-2;5 

to  exert  a  reformatory  influence ;  men  of  higher  edu- 
cation, purer  moral  character,  broader  culture, 
loftier  aims  in  life,  greater  devotion  to  their  work. 

Nor  must  we  fail  to  take  account  of  the  efTect  of 
parole  on  the  discharged  prisoner.  Under  the  old 
system,  the  gate  of  the  prison  shutting  him  out  of 
the  prison  exerted  a  depressing  effect  upon  his  mind 
comparable  only  to  that  of  the  same  gate,  months 
or  years  before,  shutting  him  in.  Now  he  leaves 
the  prison  with  a  new  hope.  He  goes  to  a  home 
prepared  to  receive  and  welcome  him.  He  has 
money  in  his  pocket  and  the  assurance  of  an  oppor- 
tunit)^  to  earn  an  honest  living.  During  the  time 
of  his  probation  he  is  watched,  encouraged,  warned, 
steadied  by  the  consciousness  that  failure  on  his 
part  to  make  good  will  render  him  liable  to  re- 
arrest and  re-imprisonment.  His  chances  in  life 
are  a  hundredfold  better  than  under  a  definite  sen- 
tence and  an  absoltite  discharge. 

As  a  matter  of  statistical  fact,  the  average  term 
of  detention  of  bad  and  dangerous  men  is  longer 
under  the  indeterminate  than  under  the  definite  sen- 
tence, so  that  society  is  better  protected  under  the 
new  system  than  it  was  under  the  old ;  and  those 
whose  conduct  shows  a  less  degree  of  moral  turpi- 
tude are  sooner  restored  to  citizenship  and  the 
ranks  of  productive,  self-supporting  wage-earners. 
A  judge  who  has  been  for  twenty-four  years  upon 
the  bench  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Illinois  declares 
that,  since  the  passage  of  the  indeterminate  sentence 
act  of  1897,  he  has  had  occasion  to  sentence  but  four 


224       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

men  a  second  time  for  any  crime,  whereas  in  his 
earlier  experience  he  resentenced  not  less  than  one 
hundred,  and  some  of  them  three  or  four  times.  In 
four  years'  time  in  the  office  of  State's  attorney  of 
Sangamon  county,  Mr.  Hatch,  a  member  of  this 
club,  whom  3^ou  all  know  and  highly  esteem,  knows 
of  the  return  of  but  two  to  the  penitentiary  of  this 
State  for  violation  of  the  conditions  of  their  parole. 
No,  gentlemen,  it  is  only  by  reason  of  ignorance, 
prejudice,  or  selfish  interest,  that  this  law  is  op- 
posed, and  attempts  made  to  repeal  it,  or  so  to 
amend  it  as  to  destroy  its  efficiency  for  good.  Should 
any  such  effort  prove  successful,  but  it  will  not,  the 
hand  upon  the  dial-plate  of  the  clock  which  marks 
the  advance  in  civilization  would  move  backward. 
We  might  have  cause  to  apprehend  the  return  of 
the  night  of  the  dark  ages,  a  return  to  the  lash,  the 
dungeon,  the  ball  and  chain,  the  rack,  the  thumb- 
screw, and  all  the  hideous  paraphernalia  of  an  age 
in  which  tyrants  sought  by  violence  to  stifle  the 
yearnings  of  the  human  race  for  freedom  and  equal 
risfhts. 


THE  HONOR  SYSTEM 

JESSE  H.  HOLIVEES 

A  chapel  speech  by  Jesse  H.  Holmes,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of 
Philosophy  in  Swarthmore  College. 

There  is  a  saying  that  "ability  is  not  the  measure 
of  responsibility,  but  responsibility  is  the  measure 
of  ability."  The  power  to  assume  responsibility  is 
of  more  importance  than  intellectual  acuteness.  Un- 
doubtedly many  of  the  men  who  surrounded  Wash- 
ington were  more  brilliant  in  intellectual  power 
than  Washington  himself.  It  was  Washington's 
capacity  to  lead  that  made  him  a  great  man  as  com- 
pared with  his  contemporaries.  This  does  not  mean 
merely  that  he  assumed  responsibility  for  his  own 
conduct.  On  the  contrary,  he  assumed  responsi- 
bility for  the  conduct  of  many  others. 

In  the  life  of  the  college,  as  Avell  as  in  the  life 
of  the  nation,  the  value  of  the  student  and  the 
character  of  the  student  is  indicated  by  his  willing- 
ness to  assume  responsibility  not  only  for  his  own 
conduct,  but  also  for  that  of  the  college  at  large.  I 
am  saying  this  in  connection  with  the  discussion 
of  the  honor  system.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  are 
only  two  systems  possible  in  dealing  with  examina- 
tions. These  are  the  "honor"  system  and  the  "dis- 
honor" system.    A  student  does  not  cheat  to  himself 

225 


326       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

alone.  A  cheating  student  dishonors  '  his  whole 
class  and  lowers  the  tone  of  the  whole  college.  He 
cheapens  the  degree  of  every  stndent  who  gradu- 
ates from  the  college.  In  my  judgment,  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  students  of  this  college  to  see  to  it  that 
no  dishonest  paper  ever  goes  into  the  hands  of  an 
instructor.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  student 
must  tell  the  instructor  of  the  dishonest  work,  but 
it  does  mean  that  he  is  to  make  it  impossible  for 
the  dishonest  student  to  receive  credit  for  stolen 
work,  or  to  remain  permanently  in  the  college. 


JACKSON  DAY  DINNER 

WOODROW  WILSO:^ 

A  speech  delivered  by  Woodrow  Wilson  at  the  Jackson  Day 
Dinner  of  the  Democratic  party  in  Washington,  January 
8,  1912. 

Mr.  Toastmaster  and  Fellow  Democrats :  We  are 
met  to  celebrate  an  achievement.  It  is  an  interest- 
ing- circumstance  that  principles  have  no  anniver- 
saries. Only  the  men  who  employ  principles  are 
celebrated  upon  occasions  like  this  and  only  the 
events  to  which  their  concerted  action  g'ave  rise 
excite  our  enthusiasm.  You  know  that  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Dem.ocratic  party  are  professed  by 
practically  the  whole  population  of  the  United 
States.  The  test  of  a  Democrat  is  whether  he  lives 
up  to  those  principles  or  not.  I  have  no  doubt  there 
are  some  people  in  the  United  States  who  covertly 
question  the  doctrines  of  Democracy,  but  nobody 
challenges  them  openly.  It  goes  without  saying, 
therefore,  that  we  have  not  come  together  merely 
to  state  the  abstract  principles  of  our  party.  We 
have  come  together  to  take  counsel  as  to  how  it  is 
possible,  by  courageous  and  concerted  action,  to 
translate  them  into  policy  and  law.  The  Democratic 
party  has  had  a  long  period  of  disappointment  and 

227 


228      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

defeat,  and  I  think  that  we  can  point  out  the  reason. 
We  do  not  live  in  simple  times.  We  live  in  very- 
conflicting-  times  indeed.  No  man  can  be  certain 
that  he  can  say  ho-w  to  weave  the  threads  of  Demo- 
cratic principle  throiig-hont  all  the  complicated  gar- 
ment of  our  civilization,  and  the  reason  that  the 
Democratic  party  has  had  this  period  of  successive 
disturbance  is  that  it  has  been  divided  into  groups 
just  as  it  was  to  the  method  of  fulfilling  the 
principles. 

We  have  differed  as  to  measures ;  it  has  taken  us 
sixteen  years  and  more  to  come  to  any  comprehen- 
sion of  our  community  of  thought  in  regard  to  what 
we  ought  to  do.  What  I  want  to  say  is  that  one 
of  the  most  striking  things  in  recent  years  is  that 
with  all  the  rise  and  fall  of  particular  ideas,  with  all 
the  ebb  and  flow  of  particular  proposals,  there  has 
been  one  interesting  fixed  point  in  the  history  of  the 
Democratic  party,  and  that  fixed  point  has  been  the 
character  and  the  devotion  and  the  preachings  of 
William  Jennings  Bryan. 

I,  for  my  part,  never  want  to  forget  this:  That 
while  we  have  differed  with  Mr.  Bryan  upon  this 
occasion  and  upon  that  in  regard  to  the  specific 
things  to  be  done,  he  has  gone  serenely  on  pointing 
out  to  a  more  and  more  convinced  people  what  it 
was  that  was  the  matter.  He  has  had  the  steadfast 
vision  all  along  of  what  it  was  that  was  the  matter, 
and  he  has,  not  any  more  than  Andrew  Jackson  did, 
not  based  his  career  upon  calculation,  but  has  based 
it  upon  principle. 


JACKSON   DAY   DINNER  229 

Now,  what  has  been  tlie  matter?  The  matter  has 
been  that  the  government  of  this  country  was  pri- 
vately controlled  and  that  the  business  of  this 
country  was  privately  controlled ;  that  we  did  not 
have  genuine  representative  government  and  that 
the  people  of  this  country  did  not  have  the  control 
of  their  own  afifairs. 

\\"hat  do  we  stand  for  here  to-night  and  what 
shall  we  stand  for  as  long  as  we  live?  We  stand 
for  setting  the  government  of  this  country  free  and 
the  business  of  this  country  free.  The  facts  have 
been  disputed  by  a  good  many  sections  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  for  the  last  half  generation,  but  they 
were  not  clearly  recognized. 

I  make  the  assertion  that  the  government  was 
privately  controlled.  I  mean,  to  put  it  specifically, 
that  the  government  of  this  country  was  managed 
by  politicians,  who  gained  the  contributions  which 
they  used  by  solicitation  from  particular  groups  of 
business  interests  on  the  understanding,  explicit  or 
implied,  that  the  first  care  of  the  government  was 
to  be  for  those  particular  interests.  I  am  not  ques- 
tioning either  the  integrity  or  patriotism  of  the  men 
concerned.  I  have  no  right  to.  In  most  instances 
they  were  of  that  old  belief,  cropping  up  again  and 
again  in  America,  that  the  people  of  this  country 
are  not  capable  of  perceiving  their  own  interest  and 
of  managing  their  own  affairs ;  that  they  have  not 
the  contact  with  large  affairs ;  that  they  have  not 
the  variety  of  experience  which  qualifies  them  to 
take  charge  of  their  own  affairs.   Tt  is  the  old  Hamil- 


230       EXTEMPORANEOUS   SPEAKING 

Ionian  doctrine  that  those  who  have  the  biggest 
asset  in  the  government  should  be  the  trustees  for 
the  rest  of  us;  that  the  men  who  conduct  the  big- 
gest business  transactions  are  the  only  men  who 
should  stand  upon  an  elevation  sufficient  to  see  the 
whole  range  of  our  aftairs,  and  that  if  we  will  but 
follow  their  leadership  we  may  share  in  their  pros- 
perity. That  is  the  Republican  doctrine,  and  I  am 
perfectly  willing,  as  a  tribute  to  their  honesty, 
though  not  to  their  intelligence,  to  admit  that  they 
really  believe  it;  that  they  really  believe  it  is  unsafe 
to  trust  such  delicate  matters  as  the  complicated 
business  of  this  country  to  the  general  judgment 
of  the  country.  They  believe  only  a  very  small 
coterie  of  gentlemen  are  to  be  trusted  with  the 
conduct  of  large  affairs.  There  was  a  long  period 
in  New  Jersey,  for  example,  in  which  no  commis- 
sioner of  insurance  was  ever  chosen  without  first 
consulting  or  getting  the  consent  of  the  head  of  the 
largest  insurance  company  in  the  State,  and  I  am 
willing  to  admit,  at  any  rate,  for  the  sake  of  argu- 
ment, that  it  was  supposed  he,  better  than  anyone 
else,  knew  who  was  qualified  for  the  job.  He  did 
know  who  was  qualified  for  the  job  and  he  had  the 
proper  point  of  view  in  demonstrating  that  it  was 
mainly  for  the  benefit  of  the  big  interests. 

Now,  the  other  thing  that  has  been  private!}^  con- 
trolled in  this  country  is  the  business  of  the  country. 
I  do  not  mean  that  each  man's  particular  l:;usiness 
ought  not  to  be  privately  controlled,  but  I  mean  that 


JACKSON    DAY    DINNER  231 

each  man's  particular  business  ought  not  to  be  pri- 
vately controlled,  but  I  mean  that  the  great  business 
transactions  of  this  country  are  privately  controlled 
by  gentlemen  whom  I  can  name  and  w^hom  I  will 
name,  if  it  is  desired ;  men  of  great  dignity  of  char- 
acter ;  men,  as  I  believe,  of  great  purity  of  purpose, 
but  men  who  have  concentrated,  in  their  own  hands, 
transactions  which  they  are  not  willing  to  have  the 
rest  of  the  country  interfere  with. 

Now,  the  real  difficulty  in  the  United  States,  it 
seems  to  me,  is  not  the  existence  of  great  individual 
combinations — that  is  dangerous  enough  in  all 
countries — but  the  real  danger  is  the  combination  of 
the  combinations,  the  real  danger  is  that  the  same 
groups  of  men  control  chains  of  banks,  systems  of 
railways,  whole  manufacturing  enterprises,  great 
mining  projects,  great  enterprises  for  the  developing 
of  the  natural  water  power  of  this  country,  and 
that  threaded  together  in  the  personnel  of  a  series 
of  boards  of  directors  is  a  community  of  interest 
more  formidable  than  any  conceivable  combintion 
in  the  United  States. 

It  has  been  said  that  you  cannot  "unscramble 
eggs,"  and  I  am  perfectly  willing  to  admit  it,  but 
I  can  see  in  all  cases  before  they  are  scrambled  that 
they  are  not  put  in  the  same  basket  and  entrusted 
to  the  same  groups  of  persons. 

What  we  have  got  to  do — and  it  is  a  collossal 
task — a  task  not  to  be  undertaken  with  a  light  head 
or  without  judgment — but  what  we  have  got  to  do 
is  to  disentangle  this  collossal   community  of  in- 


232       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

terest.  No  matter  how  we  may  purpose  dealing 
with  a  single  combination  in  restraint  of  trade,  you 
Avill  agree  with  me  in  this :  that  I  think  no  com- 
bination is  big  enough  for  the  United  States  to  be 
afraid  of;  and  when  all  the  combinations  are  com- 
bined, and  this  combination  is  not  disclosed  by  any 
process  of  incorporation  or  law,  but  is  merely  the 
identity  of  personnel,  then  there  is  something  for 
the  law  to  pull  apart,  and  gently,  but  firmly  and 
persistently,  dissect. 

You  know  that  the  chemist  distinguishes  between 
a  chemical  combination  and  an  amalgam.  A  chemi- 
cal combination  has  done  something  which  I  can- 
not scientifically  describe,  but  its  molecules  have 
become  intimate  with  one  another  and  practically 
united,  whereas  an  amalgam  has  a  mere  physical 
union  created  by  pressure  from  without.  Now,  you 
can  destroy  that  mere  physical  contact  without  hurt- 
ing the  individual  elements,  and  you  can  break  up 
this  community  of  interest  without  hurting  any  one 
of  the  single  interests  combined ;  not  that  I  am  par- 
ticularly delicate  of  some  of  the  interests  com- 
bined— I  am  not  under  bonds  to  be  unusually  polite, 
but  I  am  interested  in  the  business  of  this  country, 
and  believe  its  integrity  depends  upon  this  dissec- 
tion. I  do  not  believe  any  one  group  of  men  has 
vision  enough  or  genius  enough  to  determine  what 
the  development  of  opportunity  and  the  accomplish- 
ments by  achievement  shall  be  in  this  country.  You 
can't  establish  competition  by  law,  but  you  can  take 
away  the  obstacles  by  law  that  stand  in  the  way  of 


JACKSON    DAY   DINNER  233 

competition,  and  while  we  may  despair  of  setting 
up  competition  among  individual  persons,  there  is 
good  ground  for  setting  up  competiton  between 
these  great  combinations,  and  after  we  have  got 
them  competing  with  one  another  they  will  come 
to  their  senses  in  so  many  respects  that  we  can 
afterwards  hold  conference  with  them  without  los- 
ing our  self-respect. 

Now,  that's  the  job.  That's  the  thing  that  exists, 
and  the  thing  that  has  to  be  changed,  not  in  any 
spirit  of  revolution  and  not  with  the  thought — for 
it  w^ould  be  a  deeply  unjust  thought — that  the  busi- 
ness men  of  this  country  have  put  up  any  job  on  the 
government  of  this  country.  Take  even  that  colos- 
sal job  known  as  the  Paine-Aldrich  tariff.  The  busi- 
ness men  of  this  country  did  not  put  up  that  job! 
Some  of  the  business  men  of  this  country  did,  but 
by  no  means  all  of  them.  Think  what  that  means! 
Do  you  mean  to  say  that  the  commercial  men  of  this 
country  are  interested  in  maintaining  the  integrity 
of  that  bill?  Some  and  only  some  of  the  manu- 
facturers of  this  country  have  put  up  that  job  on  us, 
and  many  of  them  have  been  the  unwilling  benefi- 
ciaries of  a  system  which  they  knew  did  not  minister 
to  the  prosperity  of  their  undertakings. 

I  am  not  going  to  make  a  tariff  speech.  It  is  so 
easy  to  knock  holes  in  the  present  tariff  there  is  no 
sport  in  it.  I  am  a  humane  man.  I  wouldn't  jump 
on  a  thing  like  that,  but  I  do  want  to  point  out  to 
you  that  the  ownership  of  government — it  is  a  harsh 
word  to  use,  but  I  am  not  using  it  harshly,  I  am 


234       EXTEMPORANEOUS   SPEAKING 

using  it  for  shorthand — the  ownership  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States,  by  special  groups  of 
interests,  centers  in  the  tariff,  and  that's  where  the 
difTerence  comes   in.      I   have  heard   men  say  that 
politicians   interfered   too   much   with   business.      I 
want  to  say  that  business  men  interfere  too  much 
with  politics.     Do  the  statesmen  of  this  country  go 
to  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  and  the  Finance 
Committee  and  beg  for  these  favors?     You  know 
that  they  do  not.     Some  Congressmen  go  to  these 
committees  and  plead  that  some  gentlemen  l^ack  in 
their  constituencies  are  pressing  them  hard  on  bills, 
and  as  public  men,  plead  for  individual  interests,  and 
their  entrance  into  politics   has  been   so  by  those 
wdio  intended  to  control  the  schedules  of  the  tariff. 
I    once    heard    a   very    distinguished    member   of 
Congress    give    this   illustration :     He    was    talking 
about  a  great  campaign    fund   that   had   been   col- 
lected.    It  was  the  paltry  sum  of  $400,000.    It  was  a 
great  sum  for  that  somewhat  primitive  day.  and  it 
was  pointed  otit  at  the  time — at  any  rate  specified — 
that  most  of  this  money  had  been  contributed  by 
manufacturers,  who  ^vere  the  chief  beneficiaries  of 
the  tarifif,  and  those  gentlemen  pointed  out  that  they 
certainly  would  want  to  get  their  money  back.     I 
may   not   be   saying  the   thing  properly,   but   it    is 
simply  this  : 

Down  where  I  live  we  get  most  of  our  water  from 
pumps,  and  a  pump,  as  you  know,  may  go  dry  over 
night,  and  a  prudent  housekeeper  will  pump  up  a 
bucket  of  water  at  night  before  she  goes  to  bed  and 


JACKSON    DAY   DINNER  235 

leave  it  standing.  Then  in  the  morning,  if  the 
plunger  won't  suck,  she  pours  in  that  water  and 
that  expands  the  plunger  and  it  begins  sending  the 
pump  water  out,  and  the  first  water  that  comes  out 
is  the  same  water  she  poured  in.  By  that  T  mean, 
gentlemen,  that  this  $400,000  was  ordered  poured  in 
to  make  the  old  pump  suck,  and  you  know  that  that 
homely  illustration  is  fair.  That's  what  is  done  and 
that's  the  way  the  control  of  government  comes  in. 
Well,  what  are  wo  going  to  do?  I  have  a  prac- 
tical mind  and  am  not  interested  particularly  in  the 
too-long-winded  discussion  of  the  principles  upon 
which  we  are  going  to  act.  Neither  am  I  wise 
enough  to  propose  a  comprehensive  program.  I 
think  the  rule  of  Donny1)rook  Fair  is  good  enough 
for  me  :  "Hit  the  heads  you  see."  Make  sure  before 
that  your  shillalas  are  made  of  good  Irish  hickory. 
By  that  I  mean  this  :  Lop  off  the  special  favors  when- 
ever 3^ou  are  certain  you  have  identified  them  ;  lop 
them  ofif.  That's  a  pretty  good  rule.  You  don't 
need  to  be  all-wise  to  do  that.  Paint  some  of  those 
favors  so  conspicuously  that  all  can  see  them.  If 
you  don't  know  which  the}'  are,  ask  the  first  man 
you  meet  on  the  street  and  he  will  tell  you.  He  will 
give  you  a  list  that  will  keep  you  busy  all  winter. 
And  I  might  add  this,  if  you  please:  not  to  go  at 
them  haphazard,  but  to  go  steadily  through  the 
things  that  have  become  obvious  excrescences  and 
cut  them  ofif.  That's  a  very  definite  program,  and 
then  I  might  add  :  go  into  an  absolutely  thorough 


236       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

investigation  of  the  way  it  may  best  be  conducted, 
find  out  just  where,  in  dissecting,  the  scalpel  can  be 
introduced,  and  divorce  these  artificial  unions,  be- 
cause I  know  that  you  will  not  be  cutting  living 
tissue. 

I  hear  a  great  deal  of  talk  about  conservatism  and 
radicalism.  Now,  what  makes  a  man  shiver  when  he 
hears  a  statement  of  the  facts  concerning  it?  He 
feels  it  is  cold-blooded  and  indiscreet  to  state  the 
facts,  and  yet  he  really  is  inclined,  I  must  say,  to 
think  there  is  something  in  it.  He  says  to  himself: 
This  man  must  be  a  radical,  because  if  he  sees  the 
thing  that  way,  what,  in  God's  name,  is  he  going 
to  do,  because,  if  he  is  going  to  go  to  work  to 
thoroughly  change  those  facts  there  is  no  telling 
where  he  will  stop.  Now,  it  is  just  there  that  he 
ought  to  stop  being  radical.  If  the  prudent  surgeon 
wants  to  save  the  patient  he  has  got  absolutely  to 
know  the  naked  anatomy  of  the  man.  He  has  got 
to  know  what  is  under  his  skin  and  in  his  intestines ; 
he  has  got  to  be  absolutely  indecent  in  his  scrutiny. 
And  then  he  has  got  to  say  to  himself :  "I  know 
where  the  seat  of  life  is;  I  know  where  my  knife 
should  penetrate ;  I  dare  not  go  too  far  for  fear  it 
should  touch  the  fountain  of  vitality.  In  order  to 
save  this  beautiful  thing  I  must  cut  deep,  but  I  must 
cut  carefully ;  I  must  cut  out  the  things  that  are 
decayed  and  rotten,  the  things  that  manifest  disease, 
and  I  must  leave  every  honest,  wholesome  tissue 
absolutely   untouched."     A   capital   operation   may 


JACKSON    DAY   DINNER  337 

be  radical,  but  it  is  also  conservative.  There  can- 
not be  life  without  the  cutting  out  of  the  dead  and 
decayed  tissue. 

And  as  to  business,  after  a  few  committees  like 
the  Stanley  Committee  have  gone  on  a  little  longer 
we  will  know  a  good  many  particulars,  and  we  will 
be  versed  in  this  high  finance  business  ourselves. 
These  things  are  coming  out  with  astonishing 
candor.  We  now  know  how  to  regulate  prices.  We 
know  how  to  run  combinations  by  circulars  that 
convey  intimations  and  instructions.  We  see  the 
little  artificial  threads  that  bind  these  things  to- 
gether, threads  which  do  not  themselves  contain  the 
life,  but  which  themselves  do  control  the  vessels 
in  which  the  life  blood  runs.  And  so  stage  by  stage 
we  shall  learn  what  the  practical  business  of  a 
Democrat  is.  It  is  to  go  to  the  root  of  the  matter, 
seek  out  the  processes  of  cure  and  restoration  and 
rehabilitation.  What  a  travesty  it  is  upon  the  name 
of  Democracy  to  see  any  Democrat  who  wishes  to 
destroy  the  very  thing  that  his  principles  should  make 
him  in  love  with — namely,  the  life  of  the  people  them- 
selves. A  very  thoughtful  preacher  pointed  out  the 
other  day  that  one  of  the  first  quotations  in  our 
Lord's  Prayer  is  "Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread," 
which  would  seem,  perhaps,  to  indicate  that  our 
Lord  knew  what  every  statesman  must  know,  that 
the  spiritual  life  of  the  nation  cannot  exist  unless  it 
has  physical  life ;  that  you  cannot  be  an  altruist  and 
patriot  on  an  empty  stomach.  Nothing  shows  the 
utter  incapacity  of  a  man  to  be  a  Democrat  so  much 


238      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

as  his  incapacity  to  understand  what  we  are  after. 
He  does  not  know  that  the  very  seeds  of  life  are  in 
the  principles  and  confidence  and  lives  and  virtues 
of  the  people  of  this  country,  and  so  when  we  strike 
at  the  trusts,  or  rather,  I  won't  say  strike  at  the 
trusts,  because  we  are  not  slashing  about  us — when 
we  move  against  the  trusts,  when  we  undertake  the 
strategy  which  is  going  to  be  necessary  to  over- 
come and  destroy  monopoly,  we  are  rescuing  the 
business  of  this  country,  we  are  not  injuring  it,  and 
when  we  separate  the  interests  from  each  other  and 
disconnect  these  communities  of  connection,  we  have 
in  mind  a  greater  community  of  interest,  a  vaster 
communit}^  of  interest,  the  community  of  interest 
that  binds  the  virtues  of  all  men  together,  that  man- 
kind, which  is  broad  and  catholic  enough  to  take 
under  the  sweep  of  its  comprehension  all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men,  and  that  vision  which  sees  that 
no  society  is  renewed  from  the  top  and  every  society 
is  renewed  from  the  bottom.  Limit  opportunity, 
restrict  the  field  of  originative  achievement,  and  you 
have  cut  out  the  heart  and  root  of  the  prosperity  of 
the  country  itself. 

The  only  thing  that  can  ever  make  a  free  country 
is  to  keep  a  free  and  hopeful  heart  under  every 
jacket  in  it,  and  then  there  will  be  an  irrepressible 
vitality,  then  there  will  be  an  irrepressible  ideal 
which  will  enable  us  to  be  Democrats  of  the  sort 
that  when  we  die  we  shall  look  back  and  say :  "Yes, 
from  time  to  time  we  differed  with  each  other  as  to 
what  ousrht  to  be  done,  but  after  all  we  followed 


JACKSON   DAY   DINNER  239 

the  same  vision,  after  all  we  worked  slowly,  stum- 
bling-through  dark  and  doubtful  passages  onward  to 
a  common  purpose  and  a  common  ideal."  Let  us 
apologize  to  each  other  that  we  ever  suspected  or 
antagonized  one  another;  let  us  join  hands  once 
more  all  around  the  great  circle  of  community  of 
counsel  and  of  interest,  which  will  show  us  at  the 
last  to  have  been  indeed  the  friends  of  our  country 
and  the  friends  of  mankind. 


THE  ISSUES  OF  REFORM 

"wooDROw  ■v^'ILso^" 

Address  of  Woodrow  Wilson  at  the  banquet  of  the  Knife 
and  Fork  Club  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  May  5,  191 1. 

There  can  be  no  mistaking  the  fact  that  we  are 
now  face  to  face  with  political  changes  which  may 
have  a  very  profound  effect  upon  our  political  life. 
Those  who  do  not  understand  the  impending  change 
are  afraid  of  it.  Those  who  do  understand  it  know 
that  it  is  not  a  process  of  revolution,  but  a  process 
of  restoration,  rather,  in  Avhich  there  is  as  much 
healing  as  hurt.  There  are  strain  and  peril,  no 
doubt,  in  every  process  of  change,  but  the  chief  peril 
conies  from  undertaking  it  in  the  wrong  temper.  It 
lies  not  in  the  change  itself  so  much  as  in  the 
method  of  some  of  those  who  promote  it.  It  is  a 
noteworthy  circumstance  that  in  proportion  as  the 
people  of  the  country  come  to  recognize  what  it  is 
that  renders  them  uneasy  and  what  it  is  that  is 
proposed  by  way  of  reformation  they  lose  their  fear 
and  take  on  a  certain  irresistible  enthusiasm. 

The  American  people  are  naturally  a  conservative 
people.  They  do  not  wish  to  touch  the  stable  foun- 
dations of  their  life ;  they  have  a  reverence  for  the 
rights  of  property  and  the  rights  of  contract  which 
is  based  upon  a  long  experience  in  a  free  life,  in 

241 


242       EXTEMPORANEOUS   SPEAKING 

which  they  have  been  at  liberty  to  acquire  property 
as  they  pleased  and  bind  themselves  by  such  con- 
tracts as  suited  them.  No  other  people  have  ever 
had  such  freedom  in  the  establishment  of  personal 
relationships  or  property  rights.  They  do  not  mean 
to  lose  this  freedom  or  to  impair  any  rights  at  all, 
but  they  do  feel  that  a  great  man}^  things  in  their 
economic  life  and  in  their  political  action  are  out  of 
gear.  They  have  been  cheated  by  their  own  politi- 
cal machiner}^  They  have  been  dominated  by  the 
very  instrumentalities  which  they  themselves  cre- 
ated in  the  field  of  industrial  action.  The  liberty  of 
the  individual  is  hampered  and  impaired.  They 
desire,  therefore,  not  a  revolution,  not  a  cutting 
loose  from  any  part  of  their  past,  but  a  readjustment 
of  the  elements  of  their  life,  a  reconsideration  of 
what  it  is  just  to  do  and  equitable  to  arrange  in 
order  that  they  may  be  indeed  free,  may  indeed 
make  their  own  choices,  and  live  their  own  life 
undominated,  unafraid,  unsuspicious,  confident  that 
they  will  be  served  by  their  public  men.  and  that 
the  open  processes  of  their  government  will  bring 
to  them  justice  and  timely  reform. 

AVhat  we  are  witnessing  now  is  not  so  much  a 
conflict  of  parties  as  a  contest  of  ideals,  a  struggle 
between  those  who.  because  they  do  not  understand 
what  is  happening,  blindly  hold  on  to  what  is  and 
those  who.  because  they  do  see  the  real  questions  of 
the  present  and  of  the  future  in  a  clear,  revealing 
light,  know  that  there  must  be  sober  change ;  know 
that  progress,  none  the  less  active  and  determined 


ISSUES  OF  REFORM  2-13 

because  it  is  sober  and  just,  is  necessary  for  the 
maintenance  of  our  institutions  and  the  rectification 
of  our  life.  In  both  the  great  national  parties  there 
are  men  who  feel  this  ardor  of  progress  and  of 
reform,  and  in  both  parties  there  are  men  who  hold 
back,  who  struggle  to  restrain  change,  who  do  not 
understand  it  or  who  have  reason  to  fear  it 

Both  parties  are  of  necessity  breaking  away  from 
the  past,  whether  they  will  or  no,  because  our  life 
has  broken  away  from  the  past.  The  life  of  America 
is  not  the  life  it  was  twenty  years  ago.  It  is  not 
the  life  it  was  ten  years  ago.  We  have  changed  our 
economic  conditions  from  top  to  bottom,  and  with 
our  economic  conditions  has  changed  also  the 
organization  of  our  life.  The  old  party  formulas 
do  not  fit  the  present  problems.  The  old  cries  of 
the  stump  sound  as  if  they  belonged  to  a  past  age, 
which  men  have  almost  forgotten.  The  things 
Avhich  used  to  be  put  into  the  party  platforms  of 
ten  years  ago  would  sound  antiquated  now.  You 
will  note,  moreover,  that  the  political  audiences 
which  nowadays  gather  together  are  not  partisan 
audiences.  They  are  made  up  of  all  elements  and 
come  together,  not  to  hear  parties  denounced  or 
praised,  but  to  hear  the  interests  of  the  nation  dis- 
cussed in  new  terms — the  terms  of  the  present 
moment. 

We  have  so  complicated  our  machinery  of  gov- 
ernment, we  have  made  it  so  difificult,  so  full  of 
ambushes  and  hiding  places,  so  indirect,  that  in- 
stead of  having  true  representative  government  we 


244      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

have  a  great  inextricable  jungle  of  organization 
intervening  between  the  people  and  the  processes 
of  their  government ;  so  that  by  stages,  without  in- 
tending it,  without  being  aware  of  it,  we  have  lost 
the  purity  and  directness  of  representative  govern- 
ment. What  we  must  devote  ourselves  to  now  is, 
not  to  upsetting  our  institutions,  but  to  restoring 
them. 

Undoubtedly  we  should  avoid  excitement  and 
should  silence  the  demagogue.  The  man  with 
power,  but  without  conscience,  could,  with  an  elo- 
quent tongue,  if  he  cared  for  nothing  but  his  own 
power,  put  this  whole  country  into  a  flame,  because 
the  whole  country  believes  that  something  is  wrong 
and  is  eager  to  follow  those  who  profess  to  be  able 
to  lead  it  away  from  its  difficulties.  But  it  is  all  the 
more  necessary  that  we  should  be  careful  who  are 
our  guides.  The  processes  we  are  engaged  in  are 
fundamentally  conservative  processes.  If  your  tree 
is  diseased  it  is  no  revolution  to  restore  to  it  the 
purity  of  its  sap,  to  renew  the  soil  that  sustains  it,  to 
reestablish  the  conditons  of  its  health.  That  is  a 
process  of  life,  of  renewal,  of  redemption. 

There  is  no  ground  for  alarm,  therefore.  We  are 
bent  upon  a  perfectly  definite  program,  which  is  one 
of  health  and  renewal. 

Let  us  ask  ourselves  very  frankly  what  it  is  that 
needs  to  be  corrected.  To  sum  it  all  up  in  one  sen- 
tence, it  is  the  control  of  politics  and  of  our  life  b}' 
great  combinations  of  wealth.  Men  sometimes  talk 
as  if  it  were  wealth   we  were   afraid   of,   as   if  we 


ISSUES  OF  REFORM  245 

were  jealous  of  the  accumulation  of  great  fortunes. 
Nothing  of  the  kind  is  true.  America  has  not  the 
slightest  jealousy  of  the  legitimate  accumulation  of 
wealth.  Everybody  knows  that  there  are  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  men  of  large  means  and  large 
economic  power  who  have  come  by  it  all  perfectly 
legitimately  not  onl}',  but  in  a  way  that  deserves  the 
thanks  and  admiration  of  the  communities  they  have 
served  and  developed.  But  everybody  knows  also 
that  some  of  the  men  who  control  the  wealth  and 
have  built  up  the  indtistry  of  the  country  seek  to 
control  politics  and  also  to  dominate  the  life  of 
common  men  in  a  way  in  which  no  man  should  be 
permitted  to  dominate. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  the  notorious  operation 
of  the  bipartisan  political  machine :  I  mean  the 
machine  which  does  not  represent  party  principle 
of  any  kind,  but  which  is  willing  to  enter  into  any 
combination,  with  whatever  group  of  persons  or  of 
politicians,  to  control  the  offices  of  localities  and  of 
States  and  of  the  nation  itself  in  order  to  maintain 
the  power  of  those  who  direct  it.  This  machine  is 
supplied  with  its  funds  by  the  men  who  use  it  in 
order  to  protect  themselves  against  legislation 
which  they  do  not  desire,  and  in  order  to  obtain  the 
legislation  which  is  necessary  for  the  prosecution  of 
their  purposes. 

The  methods  of  our  legislatures  make  the  opera- 
tions of  such  machines  easy  and  convenient,  for  very 
little  of  our  legislation  is  formed  and  effected  by 
open    debate   upon   the   floor.     Almost   all   of   it   is 


240       EXTEMPORANEOUS  vSPEAKING 

framed  in  lawyers'  oflices,  discussed  in  committee 
rooms,  passed  without  debate.  Bills  that  the  ma- 
chine and  its  backers  do  not  desire  are  smothered 
in  committee ;  measures  which  they  do  desire  are 
brought  out  and  hurried  through  their  passage.  It 
happens  again  and  again  that  great  groups  of  such 
bills  are  rushed  through  in  the  hurried  hours  that 
mark  the  close  of  the  legislative  sessions,  when 
every  one  is  withheld  from  vigilance  by  fatigue,  and 
when  it  is  possible  to  do  secret  things. 

When  we  stand  in  the  presence  of  these  things 
and  see  how  complete  and  sinister  their  operation 
has  been  we  cry  out  with  no  little  truth  that  we  no 
longer  have  representative  government. 

Among  the  remedies  proposed  in  recent  years 
have  been  the  initiative  and  referendum  in  the  field 
of  legislation  and  the  recall  in  the  field  of  adminis- 
tration. These  measures  are  supposed  to  be  charac- 
teristic of  the  most  radical  programs,  and  they  are 
supposed  to  be  meant  to  change  the  very  character 
of  our  government.  They  have  no  such  purpose. 
Their  intention  is  to  restore,  not  to  destroy,  repre- 
sentative government.  It  must  be  remembered  by 
every  candid  man  who  discusses  these  matters  that 
we  are  contrasting  the  operation  of  the  initiative 
and  the  referendum,  not  with  the  representative 
government  which  we  possess  in  theory  and  which 
we  have  long  persuaded  ourselves  that  we  possessed 
in  fact,  but  with  the  actual  state  of  affairs,  with 
legislative  processes  which  are  carried  on  in  secret, 
responding  to  the  impulse  of  subsidized  machines, 


ISSUES  OF  REFORM  247 

and  carried  through  b}"  men  whose  unhappiness  it 
is  to  realize  that  they  are  not  their  own  masters,  but 
puppets  in  a  game. 

If  we  felt  that  we  had  genuine  representative  gov- 
ernment in  our  State  legislatures  no  one  would 
propose  the  initiative  or  referendum  in  America. 
They  are  being  proposed  now  as  a  means  of  bring- 
ing our  representatives  back  to  the  consciousness 
that  what  they  are  bound  in  duty  and  in  mere  policy 
to  do  is  to  represent  the  sovereign  people  whom 
they  profess  to  serve  and  not  the  private  interests 
which  creep  into  their  counsels  by  way  of  machine 
orders  and  committee  conferences.  The  most  ardent 
and  successful  advocates  of  the  initiative  and  refer- 
endum regard  them  as  a  sobering  means  of  obtain- 
ing genuine  representative  action  on  the  part  of 
legislative  bodies.  They  do  not  mean  to  set  any- 
thing aside.  They  mean  to  restore  and  reinvigorate, 
rather. 

The  recall  is  a  means  of  administrative  control. 
If  properly  regulated  and  devised,  it  is  a  means  of 
restoring  to  administrative  officials  what  the  initia- 
tive and  referendum  restore  to  legislators — namely, 
a  sense  of  direct  responsibility  to  the  people  who 
chose  them. 

The  recall  of  judges  is  another  matter.  Judges 
are  not  lawmakers.  They  are  not  administrators. 
Their  duty  is  not  to  determine  what  the  law  shall 
be,  but  to  determine  what  the  law  is.  Their  inde- 
pendence, their  sense  of  dignity  and  of  freedom,  is 
of  the  first  consequence  to  the  stability  of  the  State. 


248       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

To  apply  to  them  the  principle  of  the  recall  is  to  set 
up  the  idea  that  determinations  of  what  the  law  is 
must  respond  to  popular  impulse  and  to  popular 
judgment.  It  is  sufficient  that  the  people  should 
have  the  power  to  change  the  law  when  they  will. 
It  is  not  necessary  that  they  should  directly  influ- 
ence by  threat  of  recall  those  who  merely  interpret 
the  law  already  established.  The  importance  and 
desirability  of  the  recall  as  a  means  of  administra- 
tive control  ought  not  to  be  obscured  by  drawing  it 
into  this  other  and  very  different  field. 

The  second  power  we  fear  is  the  control  of  our 
life  through  the  vast  privileges  of  corporations 
which  use  the  wealth  of  masses  of  men  to  sustain 
their  enterprise.  It  is  in  connection  with  this  danger 
that  it  is  necessary  to  do  some  of  our  clearest  and 
frankest  thinking.  It  is  a  fundamental  mistake  to 
speak  of  the  privileges  of  these  great  corporations 
as  if  they  fell  within  the  class  of  private  right  and 
of  private  property.  Those  who  administer  the 
afifairs  of  great  joint  stock  companies  are  really 
administering  the  property  of  communities,  the 
property  of  the  whole  mass  and  miscellany  of  men 
who  have  bought  the  stock  or  the  bonds  that  sustain 
the  enterprise.  The  stocks  and  the  bonds  are  con- 
stantly changing  hands.  There  is  no  fixed  partner- 
ship. Moreover,  managers  of  such  corporations  are 
the  trustees  of  moneys  which  they  themselves  never 
accumulated,  but  which  have  been  drawn  together 
out  of  private  savings  here,  there,  and  everywhere. 

What  is  necessary  in  order  to  rectify  the  whole 


ISSUES  OF  REFORM  249 

mass  of  business  of  this  kind  is  that  those  who  con- 
trol it  should  entirely  change  their  point  of  view. 
They  are  trustees,  not  masters,  of  private  property, 
not  only  because  their  power  is  derived  from  a 
multitude  of  men,  but  also  because  in  its  investment 
it  affects  a  multitude  of  men.  It  determines  the  de- 
velopment or  decay  of  communities.  It  is  the  means 
of  lifting  or  depressing  the  life  of  the  whole  country. 
The}^  must  regard  themselves  as  representatives  of 
a  public  power.  There  can  be  no  reasonable  jealousy 
of  public  regulation  in  such  matters,  because  the 
opportunities  of  all  men  are  afifected.  Their  prop- 
erty is  everywhere  touched,  their  savings  are  every- 
where absorbed,  their  employment  is  everywhere  de- 
termined, by  these  great  agencies.  What  we  need, 
therefore,  is  to  come  to  a  common  view  which  will 
not  bring  antagonisms,  but  accommodations.  The 
programs  of  parties  must  now  be  programs  of  en- 
lightenment and  readjustment,  not  revolutionary, 
but  restorative.  The  processes  of  change  are  largely 
processes  of  thought,  but  unhappily  they  cannot  be 
effected  without  becoming  political  processes  also, 
and  that  is  the  deep  responsibility  of  public  men. 
\\'hat  we  need,  therefore,  in  our  politics  is  an 
instant  alignment  of  all  men  free  and  willing  to 
think,  and  to  act  without  fear  upon  their  thought. 
This  is  just  as  much  a  constructive  age  in  politics, 
therefore,  as  was  the  great  age  in  which  our  Federal 
government  was  set  up,  and  the  man  who  does  not 
awake  to  the  opportunity,  the  man  who  does  not 
sacrifice  private  and  exceptional  interests  in  order 


250      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

to  serve  the  common  and  public  interest,  is  declin- 
ing to  take  part  in  the  business  of  a  heroic  age.  I 
am  sorry  for  the  man  who  is  so  blind  that  he  does 
not  see  the  opportunity,  and  I  am  happy  in  the  con- 
fidence that  in  this  era  men  of  strength  and  of  prin- 
ciple will  see  their  opportunity  of  immortal  service. 
I  am  not  one  of  those  who  wish  to  break  connec- 
tions with  the  past,  nor  am  I  one  of  those  who  wish 
change  for  the  mere  sake  of  variety.  The  only  men 
who  do  that  are  the  men  who  want  to  forget  some- 
thing, the  men  who  filled  yesterday  with  some- 
thing they  would  rather  not  recall  to-day.  Change 
is  not  interesting  unless  it  is  constructive,  and  it  is 
an  age  of  construction  that  must  put  fire  into  the 
blood  of  any  man  worthy  of  the  name. 


AFTER-DINNER  SPEECH 

vSTRICKLAKD  W.  GILLILAX 

By  Strickland  W.  Gillilan,  before  the  Ohio  Society,  Phila- 
delphia, March  30.  IQ12. 

I  shall  begin  by  omitting  something.  That  which 
an  after-dinner  speaker  omits  is  far  more  vital  than 
what  he  emits.  I  shall  omit  the  customar}'  state- 
ment that  I  am  glad  to  be  here.  That  statement  is 
usually  made  to  cover  embarrassment.  And  while 
it  might  cover  an  embarrassment  of  ordinary  acre- 
age, it  wouldn't  make  a  patch  on  mine  at  this  mo- 
ment. Besides,  I  have  made  that  stateinent  so  often, 
perfunctorily,  only  to  find  out  afterwards  that  I  was 
alone  in  my  joy  over  my  presence,  that  T  have  elimi- 
nated it  permanently  from  my  stock  come-packed 
banquet  speech. 

Circumstances  have  taught  me  caution  in  regard 
to  public  utterances.  Why,  even  in  this  city  of 
brotherly  affection  and  other  dispelled  illusions  and 
broken-down  traditons,  not  longer  than  two  months 
ago — on  St.  Groundhog's  day,  to  be  exact — a  friend 
of  mine  arose  in  the  presence  of  the  bread  and 
caviar  of  hospitality  and.  yielding  to  a  sudden 
and  uncontrollable  (but  typewritten)  burst  of 
emotion,  hurled  contumely  and  other  verl)al  mis- 
siles  and   debris   at   the   newspapers   until    he   suc- 

251 


252      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

ceeded  in  pinning  the  Indian  sign  on  his  own  glow- 
ing presidential  prospects.  And  while  I  have  no 
presidential  prospects  that  my  physician  could 
detect  the  last  time  I  uneasily  requested  him  to 
stethoscope  me,  yet  one  can  never  tell. 

Forewarned  is  forearmed,  and  while  four-armed 
is  in  one  sense  quadrupedalian  (see  Webster)  it 
does  not  necessarily  mean  making  an  ass  of  one's 
self.  So  I  shall  keep  my  fingers  firmly  closed, 
and  try  not  to  queer  any  chances  I  may  be  enter- 
taining unawares.  I  am  the  one  American  citizen 
who  has  never  been  mentioned  for  the  job. 

Not  that  I  want  to  be  President.  That  is  almost 
as  painful  and  unnatural  as  being  right.  But  one 
should  keep  one's  lightning  rods  upright  and 
greased  and  properly  insulated.  I  am  intending  to 
take  the  extreme  precaution,  the  year  preceding  the 
next  national  attack  of  presidential  epilepsy,  to 
write  a  confidential  letter  to  some  friend  whom  I 
can  safely  entrust  with  the  delicate — not  to  say 
sacred — task  of  violating  said  confidence  at  the 
phychological  moment,  declaring  that  I  positively 
and  finally  and  irrevocably  refuse  to  be  a  candidate 
for  the  highest  ofiice,  unless  I  can  manage  in  some 
way  to  sandbag  the  nomination.  That  ought  to  fix 
things. 

The  ideal  banquet  speech  is  one  that  subtracts 
heavily  from  the  sum-total  of  human  knowledge.  If 
one  says  something  wise  and  deep,  it  is  said  ob- 
scurely and  misunderstood ;  or  said  too  clearly,  and 
somebody  is  peeved  and  begins  slinging  mud.     One 


AFTER-DINNER  SPEECH  253 

should  say  nothing;  say  it  clearly,  firmly,  and  stand 
by  it.  Being  misunderstood  is  a  terrible  thing. 
Being  understood  by  the  boxes  when  we  play  to  the 
galleries  is  worse.  One  should  sterilize  his  talk, 
denature  it.  disinfect  it  of  meaning  and  thought 
germs.  Then  if  the  newspapers  credit  you  with 
having  said  anything  at  all,  your  reputation  has 
something  on  your  character.  Most  banquet 
speakers  say  nothing,  but  don't  know  it.  I  say 
nothing  intentionall}'.  That  marks  clearly  the  dif- 
ference between  a  fool  and  a  humorist. 

Again,  there  are  public  speakers  who  say  noth- 
ing in  such  an  impressive  way  that  it  sounds  as  if  it 
might  assay  about  $500  to  the  ton.  But  when  some 
cruel  listener  smelts  it  or  free  mills  it  or  applies  the 
cyanide,  we  are  surprised  at  the  poverty  of  the 
result.  Few  banqueters  carry  their  stamp  mill  or 
bottle  of  cyanide  with  them,  and  the  bluff  goes  un- 
called. Nobody  remembers  what  the  speaker  said. 
They  know  the  tune,  but  not  the  words.  It  is  flap- 
doodle de  luxe,  pififile  plenipotentiary,  yet  it  has  the 
auricular  effects  of  oratory.  It  is  grand  opera  in  a 
defunct  language. 

There  are  men  who,  with  distended  eyeballs,  glis- 
tening fangs,  disheveled  locks,  wilted  collar,  varicose 
brow  veins,  vermillion  neck,  and  deep  lavender  vis- 
age, can  beat  upon  the  table  until  the  silver  hits 
the  ceiling,  the  dishes  break  the  chandeliers,  and 
the  salt-cellars  are  all  upset  for  bad  luck,  and  de- 
clare with  a  scream  of  rage  through  foamy  lips 
that  the  reason  the  Sahara  Desert  is  in  its  present 


254       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

deplorable  condition  is  a  lack  of  moisture.  They 
say  this  boldly,  recklessly,  defiantly,  declaring  by 
their  halidomes  that  they  care  not  what  effect  this 
committing  of  themselves  on  this  burning  issue  may 
have  upon  their  political  prospects.  Yet  even  such 
speeches  have  been  known  to  move  strong  men 
(with  weak  minds)   to  tears  and  nominations. 

Such  speeches  make  us  mere  professional  smile- 
smiths  emerald  with  envy.  But  such  speakers,  thank 
God,  are  scarce  and  becoming  scarcer.  They  are 
the  goosebone  weather  prophets,  the  leech  doctors 
of  the  spoken  word.  They  have  augured  so  many 
trite  auguries  that  their  mouths  have  become  literal 
auger-holes  and  their  speeches  bores. 

The  time  is  coming — though  it  is  not  here  or  I 
should  be  elsewhere  to-night — when  even  at  a  ban- 
quet a  man  must  say  something,  shut  up,  sit  down, 
or  all  three.  But  by  that  stage  of  the  millenium, 
banquets  themselves  will  have  been  relegated  to  the 
lost  limbo  of  Salem  witch  pyrography  and  other 
outworn  and  barbaric  practices. 


APPENDIX  I 

SYNOPSIS 

For  the  use  of  students  in  preparing  and  criticis- 
ing- speeches,  the  following  questions  should  prove 
helpful : 

I.  Introduction. 

1.  Is  it  needed  to  win  the  good  will  of  the 

audience? 

2.  Does    it    set    forth    the    speaker's    theme 

clearly? 

3.  Will  it  arouse  interest  in  what  is  to  follow? 

II.  Discussion. 

1.  Does  it  have  (a)  Unity? 

(b)  Logical  Order? 

(c)  Clearness? 

(d)  Force? 

(e)  Elegance? 
ff)  Appeal? 

2.  Ts  it  convincing? 

III.  Conclusion. 

1 .  Is  it  the  natural  climax  of  the  speech  ?  or 

2.  Is  its  purpose  merely  that  of  leave-taking? 

3.  Is  it  brief? 

4.  Is  it  strong? 

5.  Is  it  appropriate? 

255 


APPENDIX  II 


TOPICS  FOR  SPEECHES 

These  topics  are  selected  from  lists  submitted  b\ 
the  heads  of  departments  in  Svvarthmore  College 
for  the  use  of  students  majoring  under  them.  They 
aim  to  be  suggestive  rather  than  specific,  and  in 
many  cases  must  l>e  narrowed  to  a  theme  suita])le 
for  a  five-minute  talk.  College  topics  and  questions 
arising  in  class-room  discussions  are  freely  used  and 
recitation  periods  are  occasionally  given  over  to  the 
discussion  of  some  general  topic. 

In  all  cases  the  topics  chosen  must  be  submitted 
and  approved  a  week  in  advance  of  the  recitation. 

Economics 

1.  City  Play-grounds. 

2.  City  Planning. 

3.  Compensation  for  Industrial  Accidents 

4.  Causes  for  Present  High  Prices. 

5.  Work  of  a  Clearing-House. 

6.  The  Conservation  Movement. 

7.  The  Menace  of  Immigration. 

8.  Socialism. 

9.  Need  for  Public  Health  Measures. 
10.  Scientific  Management  in  Business. 

257 


258       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

11.  Corporation  Tax  (see  Journal  Pol.  Econ.,  Vol. 

18,  pp.  62-473). 

12.  Physical  Valuation  of  Railroads  (see  Journal 

Pol.  Econ.,  Vol  16,  p.  189). 

Astronomy 

1.  Surface  of  the  Moon. 

2.  Corona  of  the  Sun. 

3.  Canals  of  Mars. 

4.  Nebulas 

5.  The  Spectroscope. 

6.  Paths  of  Comets. 

7.  The  Evening  Sky. 
,  8.  Sun  Spots. 

Biology  and  Geology 

1.  Mimicry  in  Animals. 

2.  The  Coral  Reefs. 

3.  Immigration  of  Birds. 

4.  Protective  Coloration. 

5.  Harmful  Insects. 

6.  The  Gipsy  Moth. 

7.  Factors  in  Distribution  of  Animals. 

8.  What  the  Weather-Man  Does. 

9.  The  Sea  Bottom. 

10.  Factors  AflFecting  Climate. 

Chemistry 

1.  Rubber,  Its  Sources  and  Treatment. 

2.  The  Tanning  of  Leather. 

3.  Methods  of  Preserving  Wood. 


APPENDIX  II  259 

4.  Manufacture  of  Sugar. 

5.  Manufacture  of  Celluloid. 

6.  Properties  of  Radium. 

French 

1.  The  Church  and  State  Conflict. 

2.  Morocco. 

3.  French  Colonial  Empire. 

4.  Modern  French  Art. 

5.  Student   Life. 

6.  The  Code  Napoleon. 

7.  The  Depopulation  Question. 

History 

1.  Themistocles'  Dream  for  Athens. 

2.  Rome  and  Christianity. 

3.  The  Crusaders. 

4.  Rise  of  the  Italian  Cities. 

5.  Franklin's  Poor  Richard  Philosophy. 

6.  The  Winning  of  the  West. 

7.  The  Fall  of  Feudalism. 

8.  Wolsey  in  Fact  and  Fiction. 

9.  Oliver  Cromwell. 

English 

1.  Ibsen's  Women. 

2.  Macbeth    and    Lady    Macbeth — Comparison 

and  Contrast. 

3.  My  Favorite  Novelist. 

4.  George  Eliot. 

5.  Plays  of  Stephen  Phillips. 


360       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

6.  Tremendous  Trifles. 

7.  Symbolism  of  Maeterlinck. 

8.  Dorothy  Wordsworth's  Journal. 

9.  Mill's  Doctrine  of  Liberty. 

10.  Johnson's  Plays. 

11.  The  Lake  Poets. 

Engineering 

1.  Oil  Engineers.     Reference — Cassier's,  March, 

1911. 

2.  Reclaiming  the  Everglades.    Reference — Cas- 

sier's, March,  1911. 

3.  Corrosion  of  Metals.   Reference — Mech.  Engi- 

neer, Jan.  20,  1911. 

4.  Ventilating  Tunnels.    Reference — Eng.  News, 

March  2,  1911. 

5.  World's  Debt  to  Wireless.    Reference — Tech. 

World,  March,  1911. 
G.  Wood  Block  Paving.    Reference — Eng.  News, 
April  27,  1911. 

7.  Paving  and  Road-Making.    Reference — Prin- 

cipal Eng.,  Feb.,  1911. 

8.  Garbage  Collection  and  Disposal.  Reference — 

Principal  Eng.,  Feb.,  1911. 

9.  Power  Plant  Practice.    Reference — Industrial 

Eng.,  Feb.,  1911. 

10.  Training  of   Workmen.       Reference — Indus- 

trial Eng.,  Feb.,  1911. 

11.  The  Automobile  Industry.    Reference — Auto- 

mobile, Feb.  2,  1911. 


APPENDIX  II 


261 


12.  Rational  Road  Regulations.  Reference — Auto- 

mobile, Feb.  2,  1911. 

13.  Aeroplane  vs.  The  Battleship.  Reference — Pop. 

Mech.,  Dec,  1910. 

14.  Management     of     Men.       Reference — Wood 

Workers,  Jan.,  1911. 

15.  Warm    Cement    Floors.     Reference — Cement 

Age,  Jan.,  1911. 


APPENDIX  III 


The  "Public  Speaking  Review"  has  an  inter- 
esting and  helpful  department  on  Extemporaneous 
Speaking,  under  the  editorship  of  Professor  J.  A. 
Winans,  Cornell  University.  From  the  department 
the  follow^ing  extracts  are  made : 

EXTEMPORE    SPEAKING    IN    HIGH 
SCHOOLS 

Not  long  ago  the  writer  was  invited  by  the  prin- 
cipal of  one  of  the  leading  high  schools  of  this  State 
to  hear  a  program  by  that  school's  students  when 
brought  together  for  an  hour's  assembly.  The 
theme  was  Shakespeare.  Those  on  the  program 
were,  as  we  recall,  from  an  advanced  English  class. 
Some  of  the  subjects  they  chose  to  speak  upon 
were : 

1.  "A  Plea  for  Shylock." 

2.  "Shakespeare's  Women." 

3.  "The  Foremost  Man  of  All  the  World." 

4.  "Lady  Macbeth  and  Portia,  a  Comparison  and 

Contrast  I* 

263 


364      EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

Some  of  the  students  musically  inclined  inter- 
spersed these  talks  with  such  songs  as  "Under  the 
Greenwood  Tree"  and  "Who  is  Svlvia,"  the  sinmn^ 
being  prefaced  with  a  few  words  of  explanation. 

The  talks  were  short,  averaging  from  three  to 
five  minutes  in  length.  They  were  briefed,  not 
memorized ;  they  were  thoughtful  and  to  the  point, 
no  declamation  or  Websterian  maneuvers  being  at- 
tempted. The  songs,  too,  were  well  rendered  and 
at  the  conclusion  we  felt  as  if  we  had  been  an  hour 
with  Shakespeake. 

History,  too,  affords  excellent  opportunity  for  the 
student  to  speak  before  his  schoolmates  in  such 
assembly,  for  we  are  speaking  particularly  of  the 
average  high  school  where  no  special  instructor  in 
public  speaking  is  employed.  To  illustrate,  let  us 
suppose  the  class  has  reached  the  period  of  "the  Civil 
War"  and  is  brought  face  to  face  with  "the  fore- 
most American."  How  interesting  and  helpful  some 
such  program  as  the  following  could  be  made  ap- 
portioned among  different  members  of  the  class  for 
one  or  more  exercises : 

Story  of   Lincoln's   Early  Life. 

Lincoln,  the  Lawyer. 

Lincoln's  Part  in  the  Black  Hawk  War. 

The  Lincoln-Douglas  Debates. 

Story  of  Lincoln's  Nomination  for  the  Presidency. 

Lincoln's  Integrity. 

Lincoln's  Tact. 

Lincoln's   Appreciation   of   Humor, 


APPENDIX  III  365 

Lincoln's  Prose  Style. 

Reading  of  Tributes,  such  as  Lowell's  and  Mark- 
ham's  poems. 

The  above  is  meant  to  be  suggestive  only,  and 
in  no  sense  exhaustive. 

F.  E.  Brown, 

Dral-e  Universitu. 

NOTES  ON  PROGRAMS 

In  submitting  the  following  programs,  I  have  in 
mind  sections  of  ten  members,  meeting  for  a  two- 
hour  period  once  a  week  or  for  two  hour  periods. 
Each  student  speaks  once  a  week,  and  receives  two 
hours  of  university  credit.  Speeches  have  a  time 
limit,  usually  of  five  minutes,  rarely  more  than 
seven.  The  rest  of  the  time  is  taken  up  with  im- 
promptu discussions  from  the  floor  and  criticisms 
by  the  instructor,  and  also  frequently  by  the  class. 
Speeches  are  based  upon  outlines  prepared  in  ad- 
vance and  sometimes  discussed  with  the  teacher. 

The  first  program  here  suggested  is  a  rigid  re- 
quirement, each  student  being  called  upon  to  treat 
a  topic  regardless  of  his  perferences.  This  has  an 
advantage  in  that  one  frequently  has  to  do  just  this 
in  practical  work.  I  frequently  say  to  a  complain- 
ing student,  "Yes,  it  is  an  unpromising  subject ;  but 
there  is  a  speech  in  there  somewhere  and  it  is  for 
you  to  get  it  out."  But  in  assigning  rigid  programs, 
at  least  early  in  the  year,  I  choose  a  familiar  topic, 
with  rather  broad  themes,  such  as  follows: 


266       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

Intercollegiate  Athletics 

Chairman's  address  (by  a  student),  Rise  of  inter- 
collegiate athletics;  Influence  of  athletics  on  college 
life;  Should  athletes  be  favored  in  the  classroom? 
What  is  professionalism  in  college  athletics?  Are 
we  free  from  professionalism  in  this  college?  Should 
"summer  baseball"  be  permitted?  Do  athletics  cost 
too  much?  Is  the  "new"  football  an  advance?  If 
a  member  of  our  team  were  killed  next  Saturday, 
should  the  schedule  be  abandoned?  Could  athletics 
be  maintained  without  intercollegiate  games? 

The  above  program  presents  too  many  broad 
issues;  but  it  will  furnish  a  class  of  beginners  an 
abundance  of  material,  and  consisting  largely  of  live 
issues  on  familiar  themes  will  sweep  away  their  dif- 
fidence and  hesitation.  A  lively  "after-meeting" 
may  be  anticipated. 

If  greater  liberty  is  desired,  these  topics  may  be 
posted  for  selection.  Additional  topics  will  readily 
occur  to  all ;  as.  Influence  of  athletics  on  students 
taking  part,  Can  a  student  be  both  athlete  and 
scholar?  Why  is  football  the  great  student  game? 
Athletics  and  the  reputation  of  the  university,  pro- 
fessional coaches.  The  season-ticket  system.  The  tax 
system  of  support.  Is  our  method  of  controlling 
athletics  at  democratic  enough? 

A  variation  of  this  method  which  I  have  found 
works  well  is  to  read  out  a  list  of  possible  topics 
with  or  without  brief  suggestion  of  treatment,  and 
let  each  member  express  his  preference  for  one  of 


APPENDIX  III  267 

these  or  for  another  which  occurs  to  him.  Care 
must  be  taken,  of  course,  to  reject  poor  topics  and 
to  preserve  a  degree  of  unity  for  the  program. 

At  times  I  give  still  larger  freedom  and  assign 

such  a  topic  as.  One  reason  why should  be 

elected.  The  requirement  is  simply  to  choose  a 
definite  point  and  present  it  clearly  and  effectively. 
I  have  used  these  in  the  same  way :  My  point  of 
view  on  the  liquor  problem  (this  may  be  treated 
either  as  a  personal  or  as  a  social  and  political  ques- 
tion) ;  A  single  phase  of  Lincoln's  character  de- 
scribed and  illustrated. 

These  are  but  fragmentary  suggestions.  One  of 
the  most  important  considerations  in  arranging  the 
exercises  of  a  term  is  to  secure  progressiveness, 
adaptation,  and  development  of  the  various  forms 
of  discourse.  I  hope  we  may  have  some  valuable  dis- 
cussion along  these  lines. 

It  is  not  especially  difficult  to  frame  programs 
upon  campus  subjects,  but  since  it  is  interesting 
and  frequently  helpful  to  learn  what  others  do  I 
will  submit  the  following,  which  I  have  tested  with 
many  sections : 

Cheating   in    Examinations 

Chairman's  address :  Prevalence  of  cheating  in 
this  University. 

The  moral  question  involved.  [It  may  be  well  to 
assign  this  to  two  members,  as  many  fall  short  of 
the  clear  analysis  and  exposition  demanded.] 


268       EXTEMPORANEOUS  SPEAKING 

May  one  ever  conscientiously  help  another  in 
examination? 

The  proctor  system  attacked. 

The  proctor  system  defended. 

The  honor  system  in  the  South. 

The  honor  system  in  Princeton. 

The  system  of  the  College  of  Civil  Engineering 
advocated. 

The  system  of  the  College  of  Law  advocated. 

Is  an  honor  system  feasible  in  the  College  of  Arts 
and  Sciences,  where  election  is  nearly  free,  class 
lines  are  broken  down  and  public  opinion  is  weak? 

Present  day  students  and  the  sense  of  honor. 

It  may  be  well  to  assign  sub-divisions  of  some  of 
these  topics :  as,  Does  the  presence  of  a  proctor 
justify  cheating?  Is  the  analogy  between  proctor 
and  policeman  valid?  Is  the  fact  that  the  dishonor- 
able student  may  take  advantage  of  an  honor  system 
a  substantial  objection? 

J.  A.  WiNANS. 


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HELPS  TO  READING  WITH  THE  UNDERSTANDING 

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This  is  a  book  for  all  who  want  to  know,  or  need  to 
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historical  setting,  precedes  each  poem.  Also,  most  of 
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THE    DRAMA 

By  THOIVIAS  LITTLEFIELD  IMARBLE 


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A  book  designed  for  lovers  of  the  drama  in  general, 
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sound  dramatic  art  —  the  ultimate  purpose  being  to 
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do  so  in  a  manner  reasonably  authoritative. 

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four  classical  plays,  and  the  full  text,  wiih  marginal  annotations, 
of  "The  Cricket  on  the  Hearth,"  the  Screen  Scene  from  "The 
School  for  Scandal,"  and  the  Trial  Scene  from  "The  Merchant  of 
Venice."    These  annotated  plays  are  an  open  sesatne. 

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play  quite  apart  from  its  purely  literary  value  and  its 
technique.  To  appraise  a  play,  to  "appreciate"  it  — 
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will  put  one  in  the  way  of  doing  just  that. 

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such  of  Mr. Marble's  comedies  as  "A  Royal  Runaway," 
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Embellished  by  Portraits  of  28  Playwrights  and  Actors 


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device  of  the  drama  society  and  is  used  by  permission. 


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cussed in  recent  years  in  intercollegiate  debates.  See 
list  bcloiv,  elaborated  on  other  pages.  No  question  dis- 
cussed in  an  important  intercollegiate  debate  is  omitted 
from  these  volumes: 

Income  Tax  Injunction  by  Court* 

Tax  on  Land  Re&tal  Inheritance  Tax 

Abandonment  of  Protection  Federal  Control  of  Railroads 

No  Tariff  on  Raw  Material  Restriction  of  Imcnigration 

Conservation  Nat'l  Resources        Asset  Currency 
Initiative  and  Referendum  Labor  Unions  Beneficial  ? 

The  Short  Btdlot  Armed  Intervention 

Rec&Ii  of  Judges  Increased  T^avy 

Commission  City  Government       Guarantee  of  Bank  Deposits 
The  Direct  PriiiBiary  Popular  Election  of  Sen^^tor^ 

The  Minimutn  Wttgo  Annexation  of  Cuba 

Open  vs.  Closed  Shop  Ship  Subsidies 

%  Decision  in  Jury  Triale  Gov't  Ownership  of  Mine* 

The  Central  Bank  Poetal  Savingre  Banks 

Parliamentary  vs.  Presidential  Government 
Bank  Notes  Secured  by  Comm'srcial  Paper 
Federal  Charter  for  Sntcrstate  Business 
Educational  Qualification  for  Suffrage 
Appointment  vs.  Election  of  Judges 


Contents  of  each  of  the  four  volumes,  with  the  col- 
leges participating  in  each  debate,  on  other  pages. 

Each  vol.  will  contain  GENERAL  INDEX  of  all  four  vols. 


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